What Do I Need To Do After HARD Freeze Lemon Tree

Question

Hello. Last week we had extremely HARD freeze with 6+” of snow here in San Antonio. I built a tent over my lemon tree (bush) and had a heater on at random times. When the weather warmed up I took the tent down and ALL the leaves were dead and falling off through the week. Now there are no leaves and ALL the branches are brown (see pic). Can you tell from the pic, is my tree dead? If not, what do I need to do to bring it back? It was a good producer of huge lemons! Thank you

Answer 1

We heard from a lot of people who also had brown leaves on their shrubs and trees. Looking at your photo, I don't see any green, which is not a good sign. Try just scraping off some bark with your fingernail and see if there is any green on the branch. If so, the stems are still alive and the leaves should regrow. If not, then you've lost your lemon tree if it was grafted. If it wasn't a graft, it might come back from the roots. Lemon trees are usually killed or damaged when the temperature is in the upper 20s. Here are articles about citrus trees and hardiness. You are in zone 8.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/gardening-by-zone/zone-8/zone-8-citrus-trees.htm

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/fruits/citrus/cold-hardy-citrus-trees.htm