Repairing Lemon Trees From Winter Cold Damage

Q. Our lemon tree shows damage after our recent very cold spell.  Some of the leaves are dry and dropping.  Is there anything we can do to assist the tree?

A. The damage can take several different stages. The degree of damage depends on the lowest temperature reached, the amount of time at this temperature and the source and condition of the plant.

            The first stage is slightly below its tolerant range and results in leaf damage and other soft tissue death while the stems remain relatively undamaged.

            The second stage is at temperatures slightly lower or held for a longer period of time. This results in leaf damage or leaf drop and death of smaller stems.

            The third stage is complete death of the limbs and trunk back to the rootstock. The rootstock is normally a very hardy citrus grafted on to the more tender citrus.

            In this third stage the more valued lemon portion of the tree completely dies but leaves behind the more cold-tolerant rootstock. When temperatures warm, the rootstock will sucker into a totally new, but different, citrus tree.

            You can get some idea now by bending some branches and see if they are supple and bend or if they snap off. But you will not really know the extent of the damage until you see new growth in a month or so.

            Once you see where the new growth is coming from you can make a decision to keep the tree or remove it and start all over. If you have suckering from the limbs then you might want to prune it back and let it regrow.

            If suckers just come from the roots then it would be wise to remove it.