Gin and Juniper Gift Set

Looking after your Juniper Tree

This young evergreen tree will eventually grow into a sizeable bush and can produce fragrant fruits for flavouring gin and desserts. Young trees are quite happy indoors for a few weeks but longer term they will prefer a spot in the garden.

If inside make sure your plant gets plenty of daylight, by putting it near a window. A cool room or a light porch is best, and it will be happiest away from any radiators. If you have a garden or a patio then your tree will prefer to be outside longer term and are incredibly hardy, taking temperatures right down to -20C. When in a small pot, young trees will need some watering, especially if your room is centrally heated.

Juniperus communis will eventually grow into a full size tree several metres tall but it will grow slowly and can be kept to a manageable size by restricting the size of the pot. To encourage lots of growth either repot your tree in Spring or plant it out in the garden. To keep it smaller repot your tree into just a slightly bigger pot each spring.

Please note juniper bushes can either develop as male or female plants and only a female plant will produce the fragrant berries. These plants are grown from seed so it's not possible to know whether your plant is male or female but as it gets older look out for yellow cone shaped male flowers or the round green flowers on the female. The green female flowers are fertilized by wind blown male pollen so there is a very good chance that if you have a female plant you will get ripe berries in due course.

Problem Solving: Juniper trees are tough trees that require little maintenance. They tolerate a wide range of temperatures and soil types and can be grown in sun or part shade. New shoots are a different colour – in the spring and summer your plant should begin to put on new leaves, don’t worry if they are a lighter colour than the existing leaves, they will colour up over a few weeks.

New shoots are more tender than established branches and may droop if exposed to hot or cold temperatures, ensure they are fully watered and try to keep in an even frost free temperature until the young leaves have matured and changed colour. Dropping needles are almost always due to underwatering, make sure the soil is really wet.

Looking after your Lara Lemon

This little tree has both tasty fruit and fragrant flowers – sometimes both at once. It can bring pleasure for months, or even years, with the right care. It is a cross between a lemon and a kumquat. The fruit is smaller but tastes very similar to a lemon with a sweet edible rind and is great for flavouring cooked dishes or slicing in cold drinks.

Citrus trees need light and like to be near a window, skylight or patio door. In summer your tree will enjoy a sheltered patio but needs to come inside in the autumn. Try to keep your plant away from cold draughts and radiators.

They require watering once the top of the soil is dry, so check regularly. Once ready, remove from container, place your young tree on a draining board and water the soil heavily, always allow all the excess water to drain away before placing back in the normal bright position. Citrus suffer if left to stand in water.

Citrus trees will benefit from regular citrus feed to encourage growth. If you need to repot your plant, its best to do so in the spring in free draining compost. As a rule, they flower in Summer and fruits ripen in the winter. The fruits are ready to harvest when they turn yellow and are slightly sweeter than limes with an edible rind.

Problem Solving: The most common problem with citrus trees is leaves dropping due to over or under watering. If you are not sure which you might be doing, please do give us a call on 01825 721162. A return to a regular watering routine should help your plant recover, but in severe cases it may be necessary to cut off any dead growth and be patient while it recovers.

Our plants are grown in a pesticide free environment. In the unlikely event that you find any pests (including aphids or caterpillars) on your plant use a soapy water to wash off the offending creatures and pick off any damaged leaves to keep the plant tidy.