If your winter temperatures never fall below 22 degrees F., then you can grow lemons, limes, oranges, mandarin oranges, grapefruits, and other citrus. Your reward will be an evergreen tree or shrub with highly fragrant flowers and sweet fruit.

Citrus plants need almost no pruning and will grow in a wide variety of soils. Many people even grow them as container plants or as houseplants.

Plant citrus from either containers or bare-root stock in spring, after the last frost. Add in a controlled-release fertilizer to the planting hole, and remove any fruit on the plant before setting it in the soil.

The graft union, a swollen ring low on the trunk, should sit about 3 inches above the surrounding soil. In hot climates, you may want to whitewash the trunk to protect the bark from sunburn.

Once planted, citrus trees are generally easy to care for. Water deeply twice weekly the first year, unless rainfall does it for you, and then once weekly thereafter. If frosts are expected, water the plants to help protect the roots. Feed regularly with a fertilizer formulated for citrus from late winter to late summer in areas that freeze in winter; you can fertilize into fall in other regions.

Prune to remove any unwanted or weak growth, or to shape the plant. Pest and disease infestations are generally light and can easily be kept in check.