Hi, I removed a sweet gum tree about 50ft high, (The roots was buckeling my driveway) and planted an orange tree over that area. It's been about a year and the orange tree has not grown. Could the previous stump be the cause of the growth problem, should i remove the orange tree and plant it somewhere else? I water the orange tree, but the sweet gum is growing again. Also, I have another area for the tree and it might be better. I need some privacy from my neighbors with a balcony in their backyard and can easily see our backyard. I was planning to plant the orange tree in that area. However, my tree is only 4ft high. I need a fast grower and plus will provide some screening from my neighbors with a balcony in their yard. Will my ornage tree do the trick? What can i do to make it grow faster? Any advice will be greatly appreicated. Thanks, Kyle
Hi Kyle, You should definitely move the orange tree. Planting in the same hole where another tree was removed is not a good thing. Fast growing trees tend to have weak wood and to not be long lived. You can plant a fast growing tree, and then plant your orange or something else that grows more slowly nearby. It can take over when the shorter lived tree has served it's purpose. Also consider planting an evergreen screen of tall shrubs or trees for screening. Newt
Hi Newt, Thanks for your response. Do you have any suggestion on what type of small tree (15-20') or Shrubs to plant that does not have big roots. My backyard is pretty small, probaly only 500 sq ft. I also need an evergreen. I live in Southern California. By the way, how many inches per year is an orange tree suppose to grown. Could it be my privacy screen tree, it's about 4ft now. I want it to be 10ft in 3-4 years. Is this possible? Kyle
The rate of growth of a citrus largely depends on the type of root stock that the tree is grafted upon. Normally, a citrus tree will produce three flushes (growth periods) per year. The first spring flush is usually the largest with the following two flushes producing less growth. Therefore, depending on the root stock, a citrus tree planted in the ground in southern California will grow 8- 24 or more inches per year. - Millet
Kyle, (all users) in order to help you more, could you update your profile to indicate where you are located? I assume the 91780 is your zip code. That means nothing to forum users outside of America. (UBC is a Canadian University) 91780 is close to that TV show from a few years back. City, State and zone etc is extremely beneficial to those researching similar problems. I have seen some users use just "USA" . Sorry about the rant. I think I need my Morning Coffee :)! Greg
Greg, you don't know 91780? 91780 is one of the many "famous" suburbs of Los Angles, known as Temple City, California. The acronym "ZIP" stands for Zoning Improvement Plan, however no one understands the" Improvement" Plan. - Millet
Greg, I do understand. I answer questions on many boards and often folks don't say where they live but want to know what they can plant. Sometimes they will just give the name of a town somewhere in the US. It can be very frustrating. In case you ever want to know where a zip code in the US is, here's a handy site where you can search by zip code or city and state. Search by zip: http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown_zip.jsp Search by city and state: http://zip4.usps.com/zip4/citytown.jsp And a zip code zone finder: http://www.gardenweb.com/zones/zip.cgi I realize you might not want to go through all that. Newt