Hello, I have a question about my poor lemon tree. Now, I am in Southern California, and you support Northwest, but I hope you will take pity on me since its not past Jan 21. Here are some pictures it seems the entire trees is drooping towards the house which is the shady side. We do have wind storms here. We have had a lot of rain which is not normal. The tree was planted by the old owners on a bank with shade in the afternoon and the slope is 25%. Just add bracing wires up the bank or it the tree over watered or both. My tree thanks you since I have a brown thumb.
Something does not look right about the way it was planted. A tree would not normally grow that way. Trees grow upward, and all the branches would all curve upward if planted at an angle a while ago, so it looks relatively recent... perhaps it was recently planted at a bad angle, and possibly too deep based on the photos of the trunk area. If this were my tree I would move back a bit of the soil around the trunk to see if a very recent planting and whether collar rot (something that can happen when planted too deep) had started, then: If it does look very recent I would replant it at a proper angle and depth. If it does not look very recent but there is no collar rot I would prune back the tree rather severely. All the new growth should grow straight upward. If it does have collar rot I would pull the tree out and plant a new one. If you do replant, you may want to read through my transplanting notes: Transplanting | Aprici
Thanks! the tree was planted about 15 years ago by the first owners. It was vertical until I noticed the droop of lean. It has not been pruned so I understand the tops drooping. The sprinkler have been over watering set for 15min/day most days. Stopped that to let it dry out The funny thing is the trees trunk is also drooping!!!! will prune the tree back and ordered some arbor-brace to help it up. Any further advise is greatly appreciated
Is it possible underground soil near the bottom of the slope has eroded away? Is there a drainage pipe near there? The small trees in photo 3760 also have a slight lean towards the house; they are off vertical relative to the fence in the background.
Hi, Sorry for the delay, got sick, the soil is fine, I did prune the tree per suggestion to get rid poor growth. check out the pruning. But you can see the tree leans towards the house and not vertical!
I am not a So Cal citrus expert however it puzzles me that the tree had lasted this long on a distinct slope that may well be shifting gradually I always imagine old citrus ranches on nice irrigated flat land EDIT - in this part of the continent - we have lots of slopes - and alder and cedar native trees grow well - tho they gradually slide as the earth soil shifts downward (gravity) so the trees end up with what some old timers call “pistol handle trunks” - if I had a photo it would be easy to understand the nickname EDIT - I found a photo and website reference to show what I mean above - pls see attached. I do not own the photo - it’s off the website URL shown in the photo. Btw - in normal pre 2020 circumstances - I am a big fan of this interesting (now suburban) state park in the heart of the Inland Empire historic citrus region California Citrus SHP In Riverside CA
I hate to out myself as a dummy but it was only a year ago when I heard an engineer comment about a precipitious property where an event was being held that 'a slope is always moving'. It seems so obvious but I'd never really thought about slopes that way before. Explains a lot.
