SAve, BEautify and Love Your Trees: Tree CAre Tips

Not every person moving out of home has the desire to live in the traditional house and land package popular with older Queenslanders. You are excited to be moving into an apartment in the Brisbane CBD simply because your commute to work will be so much shorter. However, you are sad to be leaving behind the beautiful trees and garden your parents carefully cultivated. There is no reason why you can't have trees on your apartment balcony; you just need to think outside the box and into a pot! Here are two tree varieties which are best suited to your new living lifestyle.

Citrus Tree

While you can't grow huge trees on your balcony due to lack of soil for their roots, you can still have a lime or lemon tree out there to provide the fruit for your evening cocktail. Visit your local plant nursery and buy a dwarf tree version of your favourite citrus. Dwarf trees are cultivated to be miniature versions of their full-sized counterpart. They still give the fruit, but don't obtain the height of a traditional tree.

Citrus trees grow well in sunny areas, so you need to place the tree pot in the sunniest part of your balcony. Citrus tree roots do not like to be waterlogged, so much sure the pot has plenty of holes in the base for the torrential rain which comes with summer storms. Additionally, place the pot on a brick or other item to elevate it off the ground slightly, so the tree is not sitting in a pool of water during downpours.

Christmas Tree

There is something quite special about the smell of the pine needles on a Christmas tree. The good news is, you can grow a small Christmas tree on your new balcony. Once December rolls around, bring it inside and dress it up, and when Christmas is over, you can return it to the balcony for another eleven months of growth.

Christmas trees need to be watered twice a week. They like the sun in the morning, but need a shaded spot on the balcony when the hot afternoon sun swings around. Be sure to rotate the pot once a week, so each side of the tree receives sun exposure.

Drive on down to your local nursery to get further advice about potted trees on balconies. Not only do the nursery staff have information about other trees suited to your needs, but they can also advise on the best pot and soil supplies to use too.