Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Pruning the Lemon Tree

This winter it has gotten very cold. I decided early on that I wasn't going to bring the lemon tree in this year, sink or swim as they say. As you might know, lemon trees are evergreens and don't usually loose their leaves. Apparently they loose them if it gets too cold so as to protect the branches and the rest of the tree from freezing to death.
I took this opportunity to trim up the branches so they weren't competing so much. They had gotten pretty tangled. This also gives a good look at the thorns it has. Up the right side is a good view of some that are over two inches long.


This gave me a great idea. Cats have been sleeping and lounging in my vegetable bed. Someone told me that if you lay bamboo or other poky sticks across the area that cats won't want to lie in it anymore. I had my doubts but it seems to work pretty well with citrus trimmings. I went out there today and it looked like a cat tried to move them out of the way but without success. I pushed some of the thorns into the ground to anchor them.
I know my indoor cats don't like the thorns and so far the outside strays don't either.


2 comments:

  1. What a great idea! Have the cats noticed?

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  2. Good call on preparing your lemon tree for winter! Plants that aren't used to extreme weather conditions indeed require help from their owners. Being in the lawn maintenance Phoenix industry, we know for a fact that even if plants can thrive on their own, they need tender loving care from humans too.

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