Growing Citrus: The Essential Gardener's Guide [Hardcover]

Martin Page (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 17, 2008

The unique foliage, aromatic flowers, and dramatic colors of citrus add an exotic touch to the garden, terrace, deck, or balcony. The delicious and nutritious fruits they harvest are a draw to an ever-increasing number of people interested in growing their own food. Martin Page charts the introduction of citrus to the western world, celebrates their unique flavors and diverse uses, and recommends the best varieties for garden cultivation. The detailed cultivation advice describes how to grow the trees in all climates, includes tips on overwintering, and shows how to tend to trees in pots, small gardens, and greenhouses. Includes oranges, lemons, limes, tangerines, clementines, and many more. Growing Citrus is the definitive guide to growing the world's most important fruit crops and will inspire the enthusiastic home gardener to grow their own.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Delightful and entertaining…acts as a basic introduction to varieties of citrus as well as a historical overview, before turning to the practical matters of soil composition, nutrition, pests, and diseases.”

(Library Journal )

“Complete with mouth-watering illustrations throughout, the author displays the diversity of citrus that can be achieved if appropriate conditions are provided.”

(Gardens Illustrated )

"At long last, we have a citrus book more focused on container culture in sunrooms, windowsills and greenhouses than outdoors in the ground."

(Hobby Greenhouse )

About the Author

A botanist by training, Martin Page spent the early part of his career surveying hay meadows for the Nature Conservancy Council in England. He received his PhD from the University of Exeter and was a contributor to The National Vegetation Classification. He then spent several years working as a professional photographer, followed by a career in industry. Martin has been studying peonies for ten years and is the author of The Gardener's Guide to Growing Peonies. He was formerly the Deputy Editor of Water Gardening magazine and News Editor of the Royal Horticultural Society's journal The Garden. He is currently director of the American Peony Society.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Timber Press (December 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0881929069
• ISBN-13: 978-0881929065
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #404,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst citrus book I have evder seen, January 14, 2009

By 

Norris H. Williams (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Growing Citrus: The Essential Gardener's Guide (Hardcover)

I have a very large library of citrus books, and have never regretted buying any of them. That is, until I bought this one. My copy arrived a few days ago, and I find a few errors and several other disappointing things.

1. He says calamondins produce numerous SWEET fruit. I have eaten a lot of them, but I have NEVER had one I would call sweet!

2. He says lemons are used for blah blah, and also other nefarious things. My dictionary says nefarious means extremely wicked. No idea what the author meant by this.

3. He says calamondins are used for blah, blah, and some other bizarre things. But, he never tells us what bizarre things.

4. What is supposed to be a picture of Flying Dragon is just a regular trifoliate thorny tree.

5. The coverage of citrus varieties is pretty weak - many of the best varities (Page mandarin, for example) are not mentioned.

These seemed to be a bit odd for what is supposed to be the essential guide to citrus. There are numerous better books on citrus than this one. It does have a number of pretty pictures, but the amount of wasted white space could have been better used.

Maybe I am just getting to be a grumpy old man and these are just minor things that don't bother anyone else.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredible book!, June 8, 2009

By 

Mariel G. "Mariel" (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Growing Citrus: The Essential Gardener's Guide (Hardcover)

I always assumed that growing oranges, lemons, grapefruits, and their more exotic-sounding cousins like tangelos was only for people living in hot places like Florida, but this book explains how the rest of us can grow them too. As the book explains, the key is to take the plants indoors when it's frosty outside: for instance, citrus plants can go in a container on the porch during the cooler parts of spring and fall, and in wintertime they come all the way into the house where they make pretty and intriguing houseplants. When there's no danger of frost, they can go out in the garden. Overall I found this book to be highly useful, the advice was right on target while the photos inspired me to grow these plants I never would have considered before. Highly recommended for anyone wanting to grow something interesting and delicious.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best General Citrus Book On The Market!, January 15, 2012

By 

J. Henry - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Growing Citrus: The Essential Gardener's Guide (Hardcover)

This book is a must read! Informative, easy to read, easy to assimilate into your citrus knowledge (the beginner to the advanced grower.). The author (who is a citrus guru.) takes us on a journey around the citrus growing world, with lots of wonderful pictures, and key history of the origin of most cultivars. Have you ever wondered the origin of a grapefruit or where the oldest living Washington Navel is, it's in the book! What kind of soil does citrus like, or how cold can different cultivar s endure? What is a orangery, how and when did citrus arrive to Europe and the United States. I was happy to see my home state of California's UC Riverside (A great citrus Mecca.) and their incredible work, incorporated into this book. Exotic citrus cultivars are covered in the book, (Buddha's Hand, Etrog, Bergamont, Eremocitrus.) which has motivated me to try to grow them. This book was such a easy read, I could not put it down!