Hill Country - Tea Estate Photo and Text by Siri
The plants prefer a lot of water, good drainage and rich and loamy soil. For this reason the best teas are grown in the mountain slopes. The plants are pruned periodically using hand tools, in order to maintain a picking height of about 1 m (3 ft) and to encourage the growth of new leaves. Low altitude plantations produce leaves for commercial use after about 2 ½ years, and those grown at high altitudes are ready in about 5 years. The best teas are produced at altitudes of 1,000 to 2,200 m (3,000 to 7,000 ft), because tea plants grow more slowly in cooler air and their leaves yield a better, stronger flavor. Some of the "high-grown" teas from Sri Lanka ("Ceylon Tea" ) are considered to be among the finest in the world.

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