How to buy an orange tree in the UK
Updated: October 2026
You have a sunny windowsill, or a conservatory that stays above freezing, and the amazon.co.uk results for an orange tree are a jumble. One title is a 12 cm calamondin, another is an unnamed dwarf, a third is a lemon-and-orange pair, and two of them are plastic. Before you order, you need a winter room, a name you can read, and a pot size that matches the parcel rather than the lifestyle photo. The [orange tree comparison](/hub/trees-and-palms/orange-tree) lines those six listings up with prices from 19 October 2026. This page is the checklist that decides whether you should be in that table at all.
You have a sunny windowsill, or a conservatory that stays above freezing, and the amazon.co.uk results for an orange tree are a jumble.
You have a sunny windowsill, or a conservatory that stays above freezing, and the amazon.co.uk results for an orange tree are a jumble. One title is a 12 cm calamondin, another is an unnamed dwarf, a third is a lemon-and-orange pair, and two of them are plastic. Before you order, you need a winter room, a name you can read, and a pot size that matches the parcel rather than the lifestyle photo. The orange tree comparison lines those six listings up with prices from 19 October 2026. This page is the checklist that decides whether you should be in that table at all.
Our top picks
| Badge | Product | Type | Named plant | Pot | Note | Price | Offer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall |  Carbeth Plants Carbeth calamondin mini orange | Live | Calamondin | 12 cm | 9.4 | about £27.99 | View offer |
| Best value |  Plants4Presents Plants4Presents dwarf orange tree | Live | Not named | 1 litre | 8.6 | about £24.79 | View offer |
 Hollyone Hollyone 40 cm artificial orange | Artificial | – | 11 × 11.5 cm | 8.2 | about £23.99 | View offer |
On this page
Live tree or artificial
A live orange in Britain is a pot you bring indoors. The Royal Horticultural Society says citrus will not reliably survive a British winter outdoors. You need a bright, frost-free place before the box arrives: a cool conservatory, or a sunny windowsill that is not sitting on a radiator. If you do not have that room, a plastic tree is the honest buy. Hollyone's 40 cm faux orange is about £23.99 with 4.1 from 299 reviews. If the recipient has a dark flat, start with the artificial orange tree page.
What the name on the label must say
The useful name in this search is calamondin, Citrus × microcarpa, with a sweet peel and very sour pulp. Carbeth's plain listing is about £27.99 with 4.7 from only six reviews, and it does say calamondin. Plants4Presents is about £24.79 and 4.3 from 95 reviews, but the title is only dwarf orange and the species is not on the page. Reviewers of that dwarf often call the fruit sour. Gardens4you is two plants at about £34.99, 4.1 from 354 reviews: a lemon and an orange. The colour field says purple, which is a catalogue error, not a variety. Taste and sweet eating oranges are set out on the calamondin or sweet orange page.
Pot, height and the parcel
What arrives is a young plant, not the tree in a lifestyle photo. Carbeth's calamondins come in a 12 cm pot, with an expected height around 30 cm. The hessian listing still says a 12 cm miniature pot, then a separate field prints an expected height of 2 metres. That 2 metre line is a later, grown-on size, not the height of the box. Plants4Presents states a 1 litre pot, with the title at 30–40 cm and a bullet at 45 cm. The pair is 20–30 cm including the pot, and only posted from 1 January to 31 May. You do not fix a 12 cm plant by dropping it into a tub on day one.
Passport, pests and the day it arrives
Citrus plants, other than fruit and seeds, need a plant passport to move in England under the Plant Health (England) Order 2015. GOV.UK treats an online sale to a household as a distance contract, so the trader supplies the passport. An APHA review of online sellers, reported in January 2025, found more than 20% were not authorised. Look for the passport in the parcel. Artificial trees sit outside that rule. On the day a live plant arrives, photograph it before you water. The best orange tree page then picks one listing per room.
Common questions
Will an orange tree live outside all year in Britain?
The RHS says citrus will not reliably survive a British winter outdoors. A live tree in this comparison is a pot you keep bright and frost-free from autumn, and you only put it outside again after the frosts. A hardiness code on a plant record is not permission to plant it in the border and leave it. If you cannot offer that winter room, choose a faux tree or do not buy.
Is a 12 cm pot a finished tree?
No. The Carbeth calamondins are supplied in a 12 cm pot at roughly 30 cm, and Plants4Presents arrives in a 1 litre pot around 30–45 cm depending on which line you read. Those are young plants. An expected height of 2 metres on one Carbeth field is not the size in the parcel. Step the pot up slowly later, rather than on the day it arrives.
Why does one Carbeth listing say 2 metres and another 30 cm?
The plain calamondin gives an expected height of about 30 cm, which matches a 12 cm pot. The hessian listing is also a 12 cm miniature, but a separate expected-height field says 2 metres. Treat 2 metres as a possible later size, not as what the courier will hand you. Read the pot line before the height field.
Does an online citrus order need a plant passport, and who issues it?
Yes, when the plant is citrus other than fruit or seeds and it is moving to you in England. The trader who sells at a distance supplies the UK plant passport. You do not apply to APHA as a householder for a single tree. Scotland and Northern Ireland use their own authorities for the same kind of trade. A plastic orange has no passport.
What if it arrives dead or crushed?
Photograph the plant the day it arrives, before you water or repot. Satisfactory quality under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 includes condition and appearance, and Which? advises complaining quickly because posted plants are perishable. Yellow leaves, leaf drop or pests are reasons Gardeners' World gives for rejecting a calamondin at purchase. Keep the packaging until the seller replies.
How do I tell a plastic tree from a live one in the title?
Look for artificial, faux, or a height with fake fruit and no watering. Hollyone and Gresorth are plastic. Dwarf, mini, calamondin and a pot size in centimetres or litres are the live rows. A German product-type field that says Orangenbaum on the Hollyone page does not make it a living tree. If the bullets say no water and no pruning, it is decor. Gardens4you is two plants, a lemon and an orange, not one tree.
Related pages
Sources
Public UK sources used for this comparison, last checked in October 2026.
- RHS, How to grow citrus (retrieved October 2026)
- RHS, Citrus × microcarpa (retrieved October 2026)
- RHS, Citrus problems (retrieved October 2026)
- BBC Gardeners' World, calamondin orange tree (retrieved October 2026)
- Plant Health (England) Order 2015, Schedule 6 (retrieved October 2026)
- GOV.UK, Issuing plant passports (retrieved October 2026)
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (retrieved October 2026)
- Which?, Houseplants in the post (retrieved October 2026)