First let me say "Congratulations!" You have a blank slate, and a world of wonder ahead. We are in the same boat with new property. Please don't think me negative. Just sharing our experience. We just ripped out tons of tall vining hedges, never to be seen again, and get the "thumbs up" from all the neighbors! Think beautiful house, hidden. There were various hedges, some vining, some not, but all invasive. Over 500' of stuff to remove. Not cheap, and not cheap to replace, either! We are going to do an all dwarf citrus hedge behind the frontage wrought iron fence, and mix the types of citrus. The hedge will be topped at about 4-5', and we will lose some fruit, but not all. It will stay green all year, and that is the idea. I wouldn't mix a vine in there because vines climb anything and could strangle your citrus... Plus rats live in vines. They love that inner dark. Citrus are airy, so not so tempting to them. I think the green of the podacarpus would look great among citrus, but there will be gaps because citrus grows sort of as wide as it is tall. Good luck! I'm sure you will get lots of responses! Suzi

Your citrus hedge looks great. If you are going to have a hedge, why not get fruit from it? Here's a year old photo of the citrus hedge I am growing in front of my greenhouse. I planted the trees "3 to a hole" so I have 18 different cultivars in the 25 foot raised bed. The hedge is a little over two years old. The trees are a lot bigger now. Here's a more recent photo after I took the grass out.

nice collection. I would recomend that you keep the 2 oranges together and the Tangerine and Satsuma together, since these to pair off closer to the same size. put the lemon on one end or the other. The lemon will be a little more spreading and less upright than the other 4. 10 foot apart will be tight and they should grow together making a solid hedge in about 5 years. 15 foot apart will still get you a fairly solid row, it will just take longer and you will be able to work and pick a little more easily. Most people make the mistake of planting too close to the fence. Plant well away from the fence so that you can get to the back side and pick from the whole tree. and the seedling, well, if it's not all that great you can always graft, but you never know, may be a nice fruit. Certainly worth growing. gl

Wait until your Spring, when both your tree and the rootstock are actively growing. Ask your local nurseryman for a good rootstock for your area; get 10; then do 10 T-buds or chip buds; and if you do them carefully, you should get at least 2 or 3 to take. When they are strong and growing well, I would take out the old tree or leave it and put the new tree(s) in another place. You can prune the old tree quite heavily, if you want to save it; as long as the trunk is solid and healthy; it will grow new shoots. BTW, one of the reasons the oranges from the old tree taste so good is the age of the tree; the new grafted trees should produce fruit in a year or two and they will be "clones" of the existing tree. Be warned, though... fruits from the new trees may not taste as good for a few years.