Meyers are dwarfsâ¦where in zone 9 are you? There are other citrus that get much larger that are not as frost-hardy as the Meyer but 25' in a container is pushing it. Citrus are not the fastest growing trees, either.

Sara

to clarify ...

you want to immediately replace this tree.. with a new one of exactly the same size??? .. and not wait for it to grow to size on its own ..????

some suggest that trees are twice as big below ground as above ... if so.. you 4 by 10 foot box sounds extremely small ..

ken

All trees drop something, but if the constancy of the littering is what annoys you then another broad-leaved evergreen should probably be avoided as many of them do this. And with an orchard fruit such as a citrus the fallen, unpicked fruits are big and can be messy.

A deciduous tree that dumps all the leaves at once can be more appealing as you clean up after those once or a few times per year. Unless there are flowers or fruits that cover the ground at other times.

If you don't really need the size a small shrub would not have as much impact via debris.

P. undulatum is a nice tree until it matures enough to start dropping all the stuff you mention. Then it is not so good. The roots start getting quite aggressive in maturity as well.

25', what about a non-fruiting Loquat, Eriobotrya deflexa. Good screen, evergreen, quite clean, not thirsty. Do not get the fruiting version, as they are quite messy.

The largest, fastest Citrus are grapefruits, but you will not get good tasting fruit without considerable summer heat.