I have a mature (probably about 15 years old) tahitian lime tree. It is a
prolific cropper, and keeps my family, friends and co-workers in limes for
most of the year (I usually have 2 crops a year). All in all a lovely tree.

However it has a straggly growth habit, it is about 15 feet tall and 8 foot
spread and all straggly in the middle. As it in a suburban garden I would
like it to be a bit tidier and compact. Is there anything I can do to
achieve this, or shall I continue to thank it for its bountiful crop and
overlook its untidy nature.

Jflooz

On Sat, 29 May 2004 03:38:29 GMT, "The Lady Gardener"
wrote:

I have a mature (probably about 15 years old) tahitian lime tree. It is a
prolific cropper, and keeps my family, friends and co-workers in limes for
most of the year (I usually have 2 crops a year). All in all a lovely tree.

However it has a straggly growth habit, it is about 15 feet tall and 8 foot
spread and all straggly in the middle. As it in a suburban garden I would
like it to be a bit tidier and compact. Is there anything I can do to
achieve this, or shall I continue to thank it for its bountiful crop and
overlook its untidy nature.

Give them a hard prune in mid August if you want them to look neater. You won't
get as much fruit in the first year after pruning, but subsequent years will see
a bountiful supply.

In article ,
"The Lady Gardener" wrote:

I have a mature (probably about 15 years old) tahitian lime tree. It is a
prolific cropper, and keeps my family, friends and co-workers in limes for
most of the year (I usually have 2 crops a year). All in all a lovely tree.

However it has a straggly growth habit, it is about 15 feet tall and 8 foot
spread and all straggly in the middle. As it in a suburban garden I would
like it to be a bit tidier and compact. Is there anything I can do to
achieve this, or shall I continue to thank it for its bountiful crop and
overlook its untidy nature.

You can certainly nip out dead/crossing branches, but citrus trees usually
aren't pruned heavily.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Life is like a cigarette -- smoke it to the butt." -- Harvie Krumpet