Imagine plucking a lemon off a tree and popping a fresh-as-you-like slice in a gin and tonic. Growing my own lemons wasn’t something I had thought about until I stumbled upon a blog post by the head gardener at the Black Swan, Tommy Banks’ award-winning restaurant in Yorkshire, describing how they grow ‘Four Season’ lemon trees to supply the restaurant. I thought if they could grow lemons in Yorkshire, so could I in Somerset.
As the climate warms up and plant breeders produce hardier citrus varieties, we will be able to grow oranges and lemons. While we won’t be seeing citrus groves in England any time soon, growing citrus in containers is a good and reliable option.
Citrus fruits are long associated with warm Mediterranean climates of Spain, Italy and California, but originally they came from India, China and SE Asia. From there
