How to revive lime tree?

[CKL]

Hello everyone, i wish to get some advice and expertise on my lime tree which has been in my garden for over 8 years. Since 2 months ago we found some scratches along the branches and not sure if the tree is getting sick or was that caused by animal.  Wish to get some idea on this. 

Also have noticed the tree is getting more yellow (and dried) leaves hanging on the tree without dropping much. Is that also a sign of nutrition deficiency?

thanks all. 

 

[JacobZ]

Hi @CKL,

Thank you for your question about your lime tree and welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community, it is fantastic to have you with us.

Have you had possums around your home in the past? Are there any leaves that show signs of being chewed? Are there droppings around the tree?

Is it possible to get some photos of the base of the tree? This might also reveal some potential clues.

I can't say I'm certain, but the damage in your first image appears to have teeth or claw marks around the edges. I suspect that this may be caused by an animal such as a possum.

You could set up a wildlife camera, such as this UL-tech Trail Camera Wildlife Cam to confirm this.

The stress the debarking would place on the tree could also be the cause of the browning leaves.

If it does turn out to be an issue related to possums, I'd suggest having a read through How to protect your plants from possums for some guidance on how to manage the possums.

Allow me to tag @Noelle, @Dave-1 and @Nailbag to see if they have any advice or ideas of possible reasons for the damage to your lime tree.

Let me know if you have any further questions.

Jacob

[Noelle]

Hi @CKL 

I agree with Jacob that the damage is likely to have been caused by animals./ Possums may not be the only culprits - it sounds terrible but it is possible it could have been caused by rats. Does anyone in your area have chooks? There are often rodents around near chook pens due to the "free food" available!

The dry and dead looking leaves are a direct result of the ring-barking. The growth layer of trunks and branches is immediately underneath the bark, and it has been interrupted, so there is a lack of moisture and nutrition moving upward from the roots the the leaves. Sadly, once ring barking has occurred, it can't be mended so the branches that have been affected like this should be cut out completely.

While you have the secateurs out, trim off any spindly dead shoots as well - the tree looks like it has never been pruned so it's probably overdue for a good cut back now. 

[CKL]

Hi Jacob,

thanks so much for your advice. I took the advice from other pest control experts to place an apple overnight and see if there may be rat or small possum.  After few nights, you can see the picture below and you can also see the base of the tree. The verdict seems like rat related and I guess the next step is to find a rat deterrent solution instead of nutrition solution of the tree now?

[CKL]

Thanks Noelle for your advice. Apart from the rat situation, which seems like the source of the problem now, you are right I believe it’s time to do some pruning of the tree but just dunno which part I should / shouldn’t prune … before I suspected it was rat related I thought it could be the nitro problem and so we bought the fertiliser for citrus tree so see if helps… now believe we should look after the rat problem first. 

I had also shot a picture of the animal dropping before and believe now this is confirmed…

 

[JacobZ]

Hi @CKL,

That's a fairly good indication that you've got an animal causing the damage.

I'd suggest putting a tree ring around the base of the tree and to trim back any branches that are close to things the rats or possums can use to jump to the tree.

You can also set up rat bait stations to help with the issue.

Let me know what you think and if you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Jacob

[Dave-1]

Evening @CKL 

My guess was a possum first up (I have had cockatoos do that to a Jacaranda trees but there cut lines were smoother) Going through and watching the issue unfold and thats abrilliant idea with an apple. I seriously hadnt thought of that one!

I agree with @Noelle on pruning the half ringbarked bits off. Think of a wine glass shape overall, think of air in the middle and keep main branches to give body pruning wise. I generlly prune below a "V" in a branch, mostly as I dont want a bulb of new grouth (looks like a hard knott after a few years)

The colar idea from @JacobZ would be a great idea to stop rats snacking. Possums, id keep an eye out for them but those droppings are small (thanks for the 5c piece So glad I had finished my dinner lol

Id leave the nutriants for a little after the pruning, you may not want to shock the tree with a hard prune and a big boost at once.

Dave

[CKL]

Thanks Dave for your advice! And sorry for my picture with the 5cents

[CKL]

Thanks Jacob. Now I’m looking for some nice rat bait stations at bunnings! 

[CKL]

Hi all, some updates:

Based on all your contributions and comments (thank you all) we bought a bait station and see if we could drive away the rats.  3 weeks passed and we just found there was a little bite around the corner of the bait. Hope this is getting something. 

The latest situation of the lime tree:

- Not sure if we did the pruning right but at least we tried to prune those really bad branches and see if this is improving.  
- We fed fertiliser as usual (fortnightly) and we started to see some tiny white blossoms with little leaves growing.  Maybe just because of the warming weather in Melbourne last few days?

- Over the last 3 weeks, we found our visitors keep coming every night and left behind some small droppings. (Not a lot just 5 to 6). We guess our visitors are having party every night while we are sleeping.

- That’s all folks and wish to get some insights from you guys and see if our situation is getting better somewhere. 

Thanks all.