Citrus tree question

21 years ago

I was all set to buy some citrus trees for the "parking strip" - a 5 foot section between the sidewalk and the street. My intent in planting them is to block out the view of a neighbors RV and boat. A bit too much metal and plastic for a front yard, in my opinion! I went to Home Depot today to buy the trees, and the woman there pointed out that nmost citrus have large thorns and that would be a problem hanging over the sidewalk. I could trim the lower branches to about 6 feet, but then the fruit would be so high that it would make it available to the coons, skunks, and probably rats that live in the nearby street drain, and not of much use to humans. The only thornless citrus tree I saw was a lime, but I really don't need 5 lime trees! Any thoughts on this?

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Comments (5)

gatormomx2
21 years ago
I have 22 citrus trees and not a one has thorns . Not sure citrus would be my first choice as a tree to plant to block the view of the neighbors .
JMLRCYMNTS
21 years ago
Are there any local, municipal regulations regarding planting on the parking strip or "tree lawn" where you live? In our town there are, including a planting permit, spacings, clear vision zones and monoculture issues. A call to city hall might be a good idea. You might (also) check with your local extension office about varieties.
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ShannonCA
Original Author
21 years ago
Gatormomx2 - Any idea what varieties you have? I checked the varieties at the nursery - some looked like they were thornless, but the nursery workers said they'd get thorns when they got bigger. Also, I'm curious as to why you wouldn't want to use citrus to block a view. It wouldn't block the lower part of the view, but other neighbors (across the street) have indicated a preference for round trees on our parking strip, and asked that I don't put something hedgelike up. They prefer that our front yard not look "closed off." Round trees would block off enough of the view for me - it really just bothers me when I'm walking to and from the mailbox, street, or driveway. I don't sit out front or anything.

And JMLRCYMNTS - there don't seem to be any regulations regarding the parking strip, but it is a good idea for me to check. I wish we had more regulations in the neighborhood, as then I wouldn't have to look at big blocks of metal in the neighbors yard! But if that's my only complaint, I'll count my blessings!
Patty_in_Wisc
21 years ago
Shannon, count your blessings! I live next door to 'The Neighbor From Hell'.
How about evergreens? You can always prune the bottom.
I don't understand:
"I could trim the lower branches to about 6 feet, but then the fruit would be so high that it would make it available to the coons, skunks, and probably rats that live in the nearby street drain, and not of much use to humans."
Fruit would be more available if it were lower! Rats don't go up in trees...they stay low. By pruning 6' off ground, you are making it harder for rats & etc. to eat the fruit!
softmentor
21 years ago
Use oranges for that location. They have very few thorns and they are small. Lemon on the otherhand had dagers that assult you from 12 feet away lol Oranges are also rather slow growing by comparison, so you can keep them as a hedge, rather than trying to make a pruned up shade tree out of them.
Arthur the Date Palm Guy