Planting guide

When to plant lemon

Evergreen tree that crops nearly all year; dwarf trees are happy in big pots. In Melbourne it goes in Nov–Feb.

Start as: Potted plant
Ready in: 2+ years to the first crop
Spacing: 350 cm
Depth: 0 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means lemon can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's real monthly temperatures, not a zone map. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Gold Coast	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	●	●	●	●	●
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Central Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Geelong	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Wollongong	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Townsville	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Cairns	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Toowoomba	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Darwin	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mandurah	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bendigo	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mackay	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Bunbury	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
London	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	●	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	●	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant lemon

Plant a grafted tree in free-draining soil or a big pot.
Water deeply, then let it dry slightly.
Feed with citrus fertiliser each season.
Pick when fully coloured and slightly soft.

Lemon varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

EurekaClassiceverbearing · 26–39 wksCommon supermarket lemon; fruits most of the year
MeyerClassicsweet · cold-hardy · pot-friendly · 26–39 wksSweet, thin-skinned, a favourite for pots
LisbonClassiccold-hardy · heavy-cropper · 26–39 wksThorny but heavy-cropping tree
LemonadeAdventuroussweet · pot-friendly · self-fertile · 26–39 wksSweet-tart fruit you can eat like an orange
Variegated Pink EurekaAdventurouscolourful · 26–39 wksStriped fruit with pink flesh

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Marigold, Nasturtium, Chive

Lemon by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Lime · Apple · Fig · Avocado · Banana · Mango

Not sure lemon is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now →