[OptimusPrime69]

Why does ur average FL residence not have orange and lime/lemon trees in their yards? Also, why dont more people have avocado trees?

I was out in California and visited a few people houses and noticed almost everyone has an orange tree or some other cool plant in their yard... Was interesting to see. Florida should have more. We've got the climate, right?

[Tamatem]

I had a dwarf pink grapefruit at my first house. Best tasting grapefruit ever! Loved the tree, but omg. I could pick for a week straight and still not have gotten all of them. Very heavy producer and I really needed to pick as much off as I could due to the critters attracted to it. You run out of people to give them to - and only so much juicing goes in the freezer. I wound up donating a bunch for a few years.

I have a potted meyer's lemon now, although I wish I could have a full tree, I just don't have the space.

[Spring Hillian]

Tamatem raises the biggest reason. What does one do with all the produce? We had a couple of juice orange trees. We could not give away all of the fruit. It had to be picked/removed or it would draw rats as it rotted. It became more work than anything else.

[doggiebus]

We used to have more citrus trees before the canker scare. The county or state inspected every yard and tore out all citrus trees about 10-12 years ago due to the canker scare from everyone's yard.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

Why does ur average FL residence not have orange and lime/lemon trees in their yards? Also, why dont more people have avocado trees?

I was out in California and visited a few people houses and noticed almost everyone has an orange tree or some other cool plant in their yard... Was interesting to see. Florida should have more. We've got the climate, right?

Good question though it does seem with new construction many who opt for that kind of home for some reason generally don't pay much attention to their yards in terms of various plantings. I live in a neighborhood of well-maintained older homes thankfully where people seem interested in gardening and have a wide range of fruit trees including oranges, lemons, grapefruit, avocados and even figs.

[macrodome2]

Many HOA's, ours included ban fruit bearing trees for the "critters" it attracts. If the fruit is not removed, it encourages undesirable pests that may find their way into the attic and other openings in your house.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by macrodome2

Many HOA's, ours included ban fruit bearing trees for the "critters" it attracts. If the fruit is not removed, it encourages undesirable pests that may find their way into the attic and other openings in your house.

Yeah, nature sucks.

[vaughanwilliams]

At one time I had four grape fruit trees, a Persian lime, a tangerine, a Valencia orange, a huge (45 foot) avocado and a kumquat "tree". I also had two mulberry bushes. Over the years, the lime, tangerine and kumquat succumbed to root rot (probably poor drainage or just bad stock) and the grapefruit (they were planted in the 50s or earlier) just gave up the ghost because of canopy encroachment from other trees. I had the avocado mostly cut down a couple of weeks ago-it never produced much fruit and it used to keep me up at nights worrying that the top half was going to break off and kill someone. I left about 15 feet of the trunk, though. Possums, owls and the occasional cat live in it.

All that's left is the lonely Valencia orange tree and an ancient muscadine grape vine (arbor?) which seems to be indestructible.

[jambo101]

Originally Posted by OptimusPrime69

Why does ur average FL residence not have orange and lime/lemon trees in their yards? Also, why dont more people have avocado trees?

Basically they tend to become a mess with more fruit falling off the trees than you know what to do with, high maintenance cleaning up the resulting mess.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/--IVrDoil5T0/Tw...jpg?imgmax=800

Although not in Fla an orange tree nonetheless
http://www.claviantica.com/Personal_...%20ground!.htm

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by jambo101

Basically they tend to become a mess with more fruit falling off the trees than you know what to do with, high maintenance cleaning up the resulting mess.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/--IVrDoil5T0/Tw...jpg?imgmax=800

Although not in Fla an orange tree nonetheless
17 Oranges rotting on the ground!

LOL, clearly these pictures weren't taken in a typical new-build McSuburb.