Recovering a bark-damaged lemon tree

bp · 2024-04-30T02:42:30+00:00

This is a followup to the thread on rat induced bark damage to a lemon tree.Is there a preferred strategy to dealing with severe bark damage ona tree with an otherwise-healthy root system? Obviously the girdled limbs are goners and can be taken off. It'sless clear what to do with limbs that have a strip of bark and somesurviving branches. I'm inclined to do nothing but cut off obviously dying sections, andthat none too fast. Is there any benefit to pre-emptively removing marginal sections, perhaps to encourage new bud growth (if that's even possible)?Thanks for reading,bob prohaska

Apr 30, 2024 Last reply: 2 years ago 23 Replies

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songbird 2 years ago

snipped-for-privacy@www.zefox.net> wrote: ...

that sounds reasonable, with the hot season coming up having less leaves might actually be a good thing as then the roots don't have to work so hard to support the canopy.

i would remove any bottom growth right away and leave most of the rest except perhap a few of the worst ones you would want to remove anyways. in the fall or other pruning time do some more. i don't really know the cycle of pruning for citrus trees at all (i live in the north).

songbird

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cshenk 2 years ago

I'm not far enough south to know more than apples. Prune those early September and don't prune to heavily.

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bp 2 years ago

Growth slows down as the days shorten in the fall (the lemon tree is in a northwest pocket between two houses, with lots of trees). Very little happens between December and about April, but after that it's off to the races until about September.

I think the rats may have been attracted by spring flush pruning done by me. The snapped-off new growth is wonderfully fragrant and smells good enough to eat. Quite possibly any sap leakage is sweet. The puzzle then is why the squirrels didn't start this long ago; they've been chewing on my (late) mulberry for years.

I've removed the lowest buds and will thin the upper buds, keeping one our two when several are emerging close together. Then look again around midwinter. Best to avoid too much pruning later in spring.

Thank for writing!

bob prohaska

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cshenk 2 years ago

Always happy to add what I do and don't know! Mostly it's southern apple types.

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