Citrus and Fruit Tree Catalogue

Please contact Erica Archibald for Citrus trees on Aotea Great Barrier Island

ORDERING AND DELIVERY NOTES 

Trees can be delivered or collected in August.  There is a $10 delivery fee for the citrus trees. 

PAYMENT

Payment options include credit card via Stripe, which will incur a 3% surcharge; or by direct bank transfer via PoliPay (no surcharge).

General Citrus Care: 
  • Citrus all need free drainage and consistent moisture levels in the soil. If you have heavy soil, make a raised mound 1m diameter before planting
  • They need protection from wind and frost, but some varieties are more cold hardy or heat demanding than others
  • They are gross feeders and love a dressing of chicken manure, other animal manure or blood and bone spread around the drip line at least 3 times a year: spring, early summer and early autumn
  • They need good levels of Magnesium as well, provided by dolomite lime or Epsom salts.
  • Mulch well to keep down weeds and retain soil moisture, making sure the mulch does not come into contact with the trunk
  • Try to plant Lemon and Grapefruit away from seedless varieties of citrus (they will cross pollinate and make seedless varieties seedy)
  • Now here’s the tough bit. Remove all fruit for the 1st year after planting, to encourage your tree to send its energy into developing a strong base for many years of fruiting ahead
  • Citrus in general don’t need pruning except to form them as young trees and removing fruiting shoots as you harvest (see below)
  • When picking fruit, it is best to do it with a pair of secateurs rather than pulling the fruit off, leaving the stalk button on the fruit, and ideally clipping back the shoot to a new lateral growing further back from the harvested fruit
  • The trees we purchase on your behalf are grown in the open ground, wrenched and dug up in May and bagged for sale. Our experience with them is that they establish much more quickly than pot grown trees. 

Citrus Rootstock: 

All these varieties are on Trifoliata (Poncirus trifoliata) rootstock, which is able to withstand various soil conditions including heavy wet soil, (however MUST be free draining,) is root rot (Phytophthora) resistant and produces very high quality, thin skinned, great flavoured fruit.

Let’s get to ordering your trees! 

Lemon

Such a wide choice of varieties here! Essential in any garden! Squeezed on fresh fish, lemon curd, G&T, lemon risotto (ask us for this amazing recipe!)

TypePriceRipensRequirementsSummaryBuyhf:att:pa_how-long
Lemon, Lemonade$39.50July-August

Not really a true Lemon but looks like one, cross between an orange and a Meyer lemon. . Produces heavy crops of pale lemon fruit which peel easily. The flavour is like a mild grapefruit and is very delicious and refreshing. Eaten fresh from the tree or juiced. Spreading bushy shape with distinctive pale green leaves . Loved by children.

Lemon, Lisbon Seedless$39.50July onmost tolerant of heat, wind and cold

This is a large growing thorny tree. It is one of the hardiest lemons, tolerant of both heat and cold. The sharp, full-flavoured fruit are large with thick, slightly rough textured skin. Excellent culinary lemon, very clean sharp taste and zest has excellent flavour. Heavy cropper almost year round. Can prune to keep height down.

Lemon, Meyer$39.50nearly all year round, mostly winter/springvery hardy

Highly productive, reliable small compact growing tree with thornless stems that is the most cold hardy variety of lemon. Excellent choice for small backyards or containers. Large crops of high quality, smooth skinned, sweet juicy fruit which can be enjoyed fresh off the tree. It is quick to fruit.

 

Lemon, Yen Ben$39.50June-March

Improved Lisbon selection, large oval shaped fruit, smooth skinned with a thin rind and low numbers of seeds. The flesh is very juicy and sharply acidic. Produces abundantly throughout the year with over 60% of harvestable fruit developing in winter. A densely foliaged, fast growing, vigorous upright grower. A main export variety. Ours are loaded after only 3 years!

Lime

Limes can be used green when they are considered immature right through to when they turn yellow when they are fully ripe. The most tangy ‘Lime’ flavour is obtained when the fruit are half way between and are coloured a yellow-green.However, it is very difficult to produce green limes in NZ as fruit turns yellow with the cold in winter. It is the cold that gives all citrus their colour.

TypePriceRipensRequirementsSummaryBuyhf:att:pa_how-long
Lime, Bearrs$39.50June-Aug, November, Feb-Marchsunny, warm spot

Earlier and hardier selection of Tahitian lime. Small to medium sized deep green fruit truning lime yellow at maturity, with thin skin. True lime flavor with seedless, juicy, acidic flesh. Very reliable in their fruit set and heavy croppers. Hardy, vigorous, upright plant with lush deep green leaves and few if any thorns.  Medium height. This is the best lime for the home garden. Requires lots of sun and heat for maximum fruit. Bears in 2-3 years. About 1.5 mhigh.

 

Mandarin

TypePriceRipensRequirementsSummaryBuyhf:att:pa_how-long
Mandarin, Corsica No. 2$39.50June/July on

Improved clementine type, with larger fruit and less pips. Tangy very sweet flavour. Peels easily and cleanly. Heavy crops. Compact bushy growth, with smallish dense leaves .

Mandarin Satsuma 

Satsuma generally have the greatest cold tolerance and also fruit the earliest of the citrus. They probably originated in Japan. Fruiting times may vary with local site conditions, and are approximate only.

TypePriceRipensRequirementsSummaryBuyhf:att:pa_how-long
Mandarin, Okitsu$39.50March-MayVery warm spot

Very similar to Miyagawa but may fruit earlier or later depending on location. More vigorous growing. Very flavoursome, seedless, sweet, spherical to slightly flattened, medium-large sized smooth pale yellow easy peel (baggy skin). Segments easy to separate. Earliest to fruit. Forms a large shrub to 2.7 m

Mandarin, Satsuma$39.50April – July

An old favourite, extremely popular because it tastes so good. Easy peel, virtually seedless, sweet juicy fruit. For the best flavour leave on the tree for about a week after the skin has turned completely orange.

Mandarin, Silverhill$39.50June – JulyCold resistant

Large, thick skinned, easy peel, sweet and juicy. Segments separate easily. Very heavy crops. Stores well when picked, but fruit does not hold well on tree. One of earliest mandarins to ripen. The fruit is low in acid and therefore really sweet and juicy. 1m

 

 

ORDERING AND DELIVERY NOTES 

Our trees are only available on Aotea /Great Barrier Island!! Please order here  our website. 

PAYMENT

Full payment is requested at time of ordering. 

Payment options include credit card via Stripe, (which will incur a 3% surcharge); or by direct bank transfer via PoliPay (no surcharge).

Let’s get to ordering our trees! 

Apples

This year we are only offering trees that we have propagated ourselves from our best varieties. We don’t have many of the common commercial varieties of apples here, as many are susceptible to black spot and need a regular spray programme. These ones  are selected especially for disease resistance and flavour. Apples are generally self fertile, but fruit set will improve if cross pollination occurs. Often a neighbour’s tree will do, but crab apples make wonderful pollinators.

Rootstocks:
MM106 rootstock. This is a semi-dwarfing stock and at maturity the trees will reach a height of around 2.5-4.5 m depending on the variety; they should be planted 3.5-4m apart. Come into fruit bearing after 3-4 years, some a lot earlier. MM106 confers resistance to woolly aphis but trees are susceptible to collar rot on wet sites. (Mound the soil if your soil is heavy/wet and avoid bringing mulch right up to the trunk.) Use a temporary stake for the first few years in an exposed situation.

Northern Spy Rootsock does best on heavy clay and heavy wet soil but also is very tolerant of drought. It gives a vigrous large tree and confers resistance to wooly aphids, and phytopthora root root.


793 rootstock, gives a very vigorous tree, (more pruning!) but very good for heavy, wet soil, 793 produces trees that are large and better adapted to a wider range of soil types. 793 produces trees that crop earlier and heavier. Resistance to Wooly aphids is excellent. 

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long
Apple, Dayton on Northern Spy$39.00Northern SpyJan/Febs/f but set improves with Granny Smith

Attractive red skinned, glossy, crisp sweet/tart apple, resistant to black spot and mildew, very grower friendly. Reliable productive cropper, upright tree, low chill. Fresh eating, not for storaae.

Apple, Freyberg on MM106$39.00MM106Feb/Aprils/f

Another favourite! This is a reliable cropper producing very sweet, crisp apples with a fine grained, creamy white firm flesh and “dry” russeted skin (rather than oily like a Granny Smith). The fruit have greenish skin turning  golden yellow when ripe. Very healthy tree. NZ bred cross of Golden Delicious and Cox’s Orange, early to mid season.

Apple, Giant Geniton on Northern Spy$39.00Northern SpyFeb/Aprils/f

One of our new favourites! This is an outstanding heavy reliable cropper that keeps well. The fruit have greenish skin turning very pale yellow with red streaks when ripe. It can be picked early (Feb) and used as a cooker- for the most amazing fluffy apple mousse – or picked later (April) for fresh eating. It tastes like a tree ripened Granny Smith but with finer flesh. Very healthy tree.

Apple, Peasgood Nonsuch on Northern Spy$39.00Northern SpyMid-lates/f

Large vigorous tree, heavy  regular cropper. Huge flat highly coloured apple, white, sweet/sharp aromatic, soft, creamy flesh and cooks to a delicately flavoured puree, bruises easily; super tasty raw or cooked has that true apple flavour. Low chill.  Ours cropped in its second spring! Tip bearing

 

 

Large vigorous tree, heavy  regular cropper, sets large, flattened fruit over several weeks. Deilicious true apple flavour. Several fuit per …
Apple, Sir Prize on MM106$39.00106late March/Aprils/f but fruit set will improve with another apple/crabapple

Another fabulous, diesase resitant apple! Medium to large yellow skined fuit with a pink to red blush, thin skin, very juicy and crisp with tender flesh.  Fruit bruise easily so handle with care when harvesting. Small price to pay for such a delicious apple! The tree has  strong spreading habit. Bred in the US in 1955, released in 1975.

 

Crab Apples

Very free flowering trees with cascades of blooms, very useful as pollinators for apples. Extremely hardy and suited to a wide range of soils and climatic conditions, small to medium height.

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long

 

Apricots

All the apricots we are stocking are suited to a low chill winter. We have chosen varieties known to do well on GBI and/or to be disease resistant. The apricots listed are either grafted onto Myrobolan plum rootstock or onto Peach. Myrobolan Plum is adapted to a wide range of soil and climatic conditions, growing well on light sandy soils but tolerates fairly heavy soils and excess moisture. Myrobolan confers resistance to crown rot but is susceptible to root knot nematode. Trees will take longer to start fruiting and be more vigorous. Apricots budded onto peach rootstock are less tolerant of wet conditions, but do very well in light sandy soil (eg Medlands) and tolerate drought well.

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long

 

Feijoa

Feijoas are every Kiwi’s favourite fruit. I call them the NZ Easter egg. Feijoa trees are tough and good doers, requiring minimal care (they are in the same family as pohutukawa and karo, pretty tough relations!). However, they are gross feeders, so they like manure of some kind once or twice a year, running chooks beneath them will fertilise them and take care of the bronze beetle which emerges from the soil in September to October and can, unchecked, do considerable damage to the flowers and young fruit. Pruning isn’t essential but you do want to avoid the trees becoming overly crowded, so as to encourage bird pollination. Choosing an early, a mid and a late fruiting variety will mean you can have feijoas for 2-3 months of the year. Larger sizes available: 5L= $30 ,6L $35,8L= $39,PB18 = $45. Other varieties available, please ask.

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long

 

Figs

Figs are such a rewarding tree to grow on GBI. They love the heat, tolerate drought and fruit abundantly, some varieties cropping twice, the first (breba) crop in early to mid summer; followed by an autumn crop. Plant in well drained soil in a sunny spot. They benefit from having their root spread curtailed, so rocky spots, near banks etc is ideal. Be prepared to net the fruit as birds love them.

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long
Fig, Brunoro Black$24.00ctglight breba; main crop (Feb/March)

Divine small black fig with cerise pinky purple flesh, sweet and dense, skin and all, my FAVOURITE!! Great fig for drying. Reasonably compact tree.

Low chill

prolific, great for drying
Fig, Mrs. Williams$24.00ctglight breba, among earliest of main croppers

Delicious large fruited fig with pink flesh \and green/brownish purple skin, fruits relatively early … in March . Vigorous large tree. Do not plant near veg garden due to extensive root system!

Low chill

 

Grapes

Who doesn’t relish a bunch of gorgeous, sweet grapes that burst with juice and flavour in your mouth. I still have vivid childhood memories from North Africa, where I grew up, of grape vines hung with voluptuous bunches of ripe grapes, festooning sundrenched whitewashed balconies. For some reason it is a memory that fills me with deep happiness. By planting a range of grape varieties you can be eating grapes over a three month period! However, to produce good grapes is a lot of work. Vigorous variteies should be planted 3-5 metres apart and less vigorous ones can be planted as close as 1.5 m. They must be planted in an open, sunny position with plenty of ventilation. This will ensure minimal disease risk (mildew) and well flavoured, sweet grapes. Table grapes also need a richer soil and more irrigation than wine grapes, in slightly acid to neutral soil, and good drainage. Keep the root area free of weeds, preferably with mulch.To get good production they will need winter and summer pruning, (many books/websites deal with this). Needless to say on GBI you will have to net the grapes as they start to show colour to protect against birds! Once again, most of these varieties are chosen for their disease resistance. All these grapes are grafted onto phylloxera resistant root stock.

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long

 

Mulberry

Mulberries are another tree requiring little attention, which will reward you with abundant fruit, slightly tart but nice eating fresh or made into very tasty jams and pies. Eventually grow into large spreading very attractive trees.

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long

 

Nectarines & Peaches

Overall these trees need good drainage and plenty of air movement to stay healthy and prevent leaf curl. Do not crowd among other trees, give them plenty of breathing space, and prune to an open vase. They are generally a short lived tree, living on average 8-10 years. Do not plant peaches where peaches have previously grown. Peach root stock gives trees up to 4m high, and trees will be drought resistant. Always prune your peaches and nectarines in the warm dry weather that follows fruiting, NOT in winter to avoid silverleaf. Peaches and nectarines are self fertile, so do not need another variety to crosspollinate with.

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long

 

Pears

Pears generally require less care than apples, providing delicious fruit. Most pears require cross pollination, so the planting of more than one variety is recommended. They are great for espaliering. Rootstock greatly affects size! Briefly: QuA confers high tolerance to woolly aphid, root lesion nematode and crown gall. It reduces tree size to about 3.5 metres, controls vigour (less pruning), and encourages fruiting at an earlier age QuC gives similar protection to Quince A but the tree will be slightly smaller (3m)and will fruit earlier in its life cycle, so may need support in its early years . Produces few suckers. BA 29 resistance to pear decline, crown gall, nematodes, root aphids; trees precocious(early fruiting) and high yielding, trees much larger than QuA and QuC, handles heavy soils well, drought tolerant

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long

Nashi Pears

Nashi pears are deliciously sweet, crunchy, juicy and very refreshing. It is a shame they are not as available as they used to be. Their flavour is incedible if allowed to ripen on the tree. Great home garden tree.

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long

Plums

Plums are among the easiest of the stone fruit to grow, and the least disease prone. Pay attention to the pollinator guides; self fertile varieties often improve fruit set with another variety. There are two main types of plum – European (gages) (Prunus domestica) and Japanese (P. salacina). Generally the European varieties require cooler winters, but many still do well in the North. They are mostly yellow fleshed with a dsitinctive, fabulouspear drop flavour. The Japanese plums require warmer summers. Plums are grafed either onto Peach or Plum. Trees grafted onto peach are drought tolerant, prefer lighter soils and will grow to full size. Plums grafted onto Plum will be very vigorous and take longer to start fruiting, but will be more tolerant of heavy soil.

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long

Heirloom Plums

Organically grown NZ heirloom plum varieties these varieties are among those collected by Koanga gardens over the past 30 years mostly in Northland. They will be supplied as 1 year old maidens, ie whips 1-1.5m tall. For the cost you get a small tree, but actually maidens have a better root/shoot ratio so better establishment, and you can shape and train right from the start.

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long

Quince

Quince fruit have a delightful fragrance which emanates when they are ripe and will perfume a room or an airing cupboard. A rich full flavour will develop if allowed to thoroughly ripen on the tree to a rich yellow. However they are inedible raw. They are either poached or made into jellies, jams and paste. A very attractive tree at blossom time and again in autumn with the golden pear-like fruit. The trees are easy to grow, thriving in sunny sheltered spots with heavy moist soils, and do well in hot dry summers. They are all self fertile. Tip bearers on current season’s growth.

TypePriceRootstockRipensPollinatorQualitiesOtherBuyhf:att:pa_how-long

Raspberry

Raspberries are SO delicious they are hard to resist! They need full sun, although over here a little shade wouldn’t go astray, and good drainage. Canes should be planted 1 m apart and contained or managed to ensure they don’t spread. This variety is autumn fruiting/everbearing and suitable for growing in the North. They produce berries on new season’s canes. After fruiting canes should be pruned to ground level. Alternatively you can simply cut them down or even mow them to the ground every winter, resulting in one long crop starting late in summer. You will avoid bronze beetle damage as these varieties will flower after the bronze beetle have retreated to the ground in early summer.

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