Re: Recovering a bark-damaged lemon tree

songbird wrote:

<bp@www.zefox.net> wrote:
...

Right now the root structure is appropriate to a tree about
fifteen feet tall and maybe ten feet wide. That needs a certain
amount of photosynthesis to remain healthy, likely far more than
is supplied by the existing leaf area. That suggests leaving all
growth alone initially and then progressively removing unwanted
branches after some delay.

 
  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.
 
 

Anybody got a hint what an appropriate delay might be? Weeks,
months?  Maybe a year? Seems best to minimize the tree's wasted
investment.

 
  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

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