Author Topic: Mature Lemon and Pear Trees Struggling - Can They Be Revived?  (Read 446 times)

rossco027

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Mature Lemon and Pear Trees Struggling - Can They Be Revived?
« on: August 21, 2020, 08:47:00 PM »
Hello! We are based in the San Francisco Bay Area, and have been renting our apartment for the last few years. We have a few fruit trees in our yard (which we love, but have absolutely no experience with), and this past summer two of them appear to be struggling mightily (a lemon tree and a pear tree). See the pictures I posted. Hoping someone with more experience can give us some helpful advice on how to revive these trees (or if they can be revived at all)! Are they being crowded out by the other trees? Are those specks on the branches and trunk some kind of fungal infection? Are we underwatering them? Do they just need some serious TLC like pruning and fertilizing? Should we call in a professional?

For context, here's some general info: The first four pictures are of the lemon tree, the last three are of the pear tree; Both trees do seem to have markings on their branches and trunk (and the other healthy trees in our yard don't seem to have the same marks, but this could be a cooincidence?); Two of the other trees in the yard seem to be doing quite well (a persimmon tree and another pear tree), and a third (plum) tree has had aphid issues for the past few summers which we have been trying to handle; Generally we have been leaving these two trees to their own devices (only water very sparingly, and only if it's been very dry), no pruning (I know I know); For the past few years, the lemon tree has done very well (producing almost too many lemons) and the pear tree has been OK - just started to notice the trees getting sad this year.

Really hoping for some help! Thanks in advance!














Citradia

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Re: Mature Lemon and Pear Trees Struggling - Can They Be Revived?
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2020, 04:26:17 PM »
I can’t tell what your problems are based on these pics. There’s a lot of things that can harm your trees. Could be soil related, could have been sprayed by someone with chemical, could have been girdled by rodents or weed eater. Pears are usually pretty tough and it’s usually recommended to avoid fertilizer And pruning with pears once established to avoid Triggering a lot of tender growth which is susceptible to fireblight. You have other fruit trees on property that are healthy, so I am guessing it’s not weather related unless these two trees are in more shade than the others. Again, I’m not there to assess your environment. If you can not problem solve this yourself, I’d say get an arborist to come and assess. You could get a soil test done by local extension service if you think it’s a fertility problem.