Рет қаралды 377
GROWING CITRUS OUTDOOR IN THE UK
The coldest nights in southern England normally occur under clear skies and with little wind. In central London the heated buildings and stored heat in bricks and concrete counter these conditions.
However, very rarely, a strong easterly airflow becomes established carrying cold air from Siberia. In winter this residual warmth from many sheltered microclimates can be rapidly carried away. This happened at the end of February 2018, when temperatures remained below freezing with strong winds for almost four days and in December 2022, when temperature in London fell as low as -10c from the 9th to the 19th of December 2022.
These conditions are the hardest for any outdoor citrus to survive in London but survive some do with rapid regrowth following the start of warmth in spring. The locations of where some of these outdoor and in the ground citrus trees can be found includes the 'Queenie' grapefruit tree in the Chelsea Physic Garden; a Bangladeshi citrus in Bethnal Green (probably a pummelo), a grapefruit in Balham, South London; a seedling orange in Shepherd's Bush; and in Edmonton, London N9 a citrus Reported and photographed by Ahmet Kemal in May 2019.
Ahmet has been following the progress of the citrus and reported its progress for the last five years. On his visit in November 2019 then in February 2021 the tree was in a vibrant and healthy state.
Sadly, on Ahmet Kemal last visit in May 2023 he found that the citrus tree was badly damaged by the extremely cold winter we had. The middle main stem of the tree seems to be dead but side branches were green and there were a few young green healthy shoots coming out of the bottom from the roots, so all was not lost, and the tree is expected to bounce back to its former glory.
I was also inspired to try and grow my citrus plants outdoors by many Citrus growers on KZbin, Facebook and Instagram groups who are successfully growing citrus trees in the ground and in containers outdoors and all year round in sheltered areas in their garden. In May 2021, I planted a Navel Orange and a Mandarin Clementine in a sheltered position next to our garden wall and they survived the winter of 2021 with just minor leaf damage. However, the crowns of both plants were cold damaged during the devastatingly cold winter that started in December 2022. Thankfully both plants started their recovery in May 2023, and I am now working out new logistics for again overwintering them in my garden in the UK.