Re-pot a lemon tree

MaryT says...
Hi John_G, I've had a Eureka lemon in a pot for four years and I'd potted it up twice. It is now in its final home inside a wine barrel (been there two years) and there's no way I will be repotting that. I keep it small by pruning it to no more than twice the height of the pot and its spread not much further than its diameter. I also open up its centre and not allow any twiggy growth. I top up with mulch and feed and water it well. So far so good. Fingers crossed.

I do this because I have many trees and no space and they're always pushed right up against one another.

MaryT says...
John_G, just make sure that the tree is well watered some time before taking it out, this helps keep the soil around the root ball and therefore cause least disturbance.

Prepare the pot it is going to by filling it up to the level where you can sit the tree inside it and the top of the soil comes to where you want it. Make sure the potting mix at the bottom is packed down.

Grab the tree trunk closest to the soil and give it a tug; it should come free. Gently free up any roots that you can see and put the tree on top of the mixture already in the new pot; check the level, centre the tree and fill the gap with more mixture, packing in down as you go (this eliminates air pockets and prevents 'shrinkage') Make sure the soil level at the top is the same as before. Water it in well.

p.s. I always put water crystals and slow release fertilisers in the potty mix.

Phil10 says...
Hello Mary and John,
Do you have any further advice for a new hand at trying to grow a Eureka in a pot?
The tree is about 660mm (26 in) tall and has a sideshoot at 460mm (18 in).It was very tall and leggy so I pruned it back to this height when I potted it.
Given that its growing on a deck and obviously has to be pruned to control the urge to grow into a tree I'm wondering if I can just let it go and hope that more lateral branches will develop below the cut.
I know I will have to repot as time gows on and I'm assuming that once it gets to wine barrel stage I can continue to prune as Mary has done and that will contreol its size.

All advice gratefully received.
kind regards.

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