How can I save my Meyer lemon tree?

Question

]23]3I discovered 2 days ago that my lemon tree appears to be dying. I'm not sure when it began. Because I have never had problems with this tree, I simply did not notice it turning brown. My neighbor noticed it and informed me.

Prior to this it was healthy, green and had green buds and flowers. It typically puts out beautiful, delicious lemons every year. Although it is watered perhaps every 2-3 days, it receives little water from the sprinkler as it is some distance from it. The soil does drain well and dries in between. It sits directly in the sun. I have never had to fertilize it, but I do keep it pruned.

This tree was here when I bought my home 9 years ago. Nothing has changed in the management of this tree. However, about 2 or 3 weeks ago, I sprayed a very tiny bit of Roundup to kill a weed growing up through the crack of my driveway. I is about 8 feet from the tree and directly parallel to it. I have never used Roundup in this area before. I only use it at the base of my driveway because my yard is full of ornamentals. The only thing I can assume is that perhaps some of this herbicide leached into the soil.

All of the leaves are brown and curled, but there are some green buds still present. Some of the branches are dried and brown when scraped, but others, while brown, have a green, moist texture underneath. I scraped the bottom of the tree trunk and it is moist and green as well(see pic).

There does not appear to be any fungus or infection of the tree trunk; actually, it appears quite healthy. I soaked the base of the tree one time and have gone back to the regular watering schedule to avoid drowning the roots. I don't know what else to do now.

Any advice on how I can save the tree if it is dying from the herbicide?

---

Here are some updates on the tree's current status, with some new branches and buds:

Answer 1

If you have green living material under the bark then it might not be dead. Lots of die back, yes. I recommend cutting it back hard to remove all dead leaves and minor stems. Then water and wait....

Answer 2

I never thought I'd be saying this but that tree is DEAD. For all intent and purposes, no one barring magicians or a god could bring that guy back. Bummer for sure. Let's figure out what happened that you could learn from, watering schedule, a picture of the bottom of that trunk in the soil, and a larger view of the other plants nearby.

The low cover looks dehydrated by this picture. The amount of concrete and paving and gravel could have easily cooked this guy's roots even with lots of water. Where the heck do you live and what temperatures are happening??

Very dead, sweetie. The trees in the background look stressed as well. I don't think any glyphosate could harm this cute tree without killing the groundcovers as well. This appears to be heat damage and/or not enough DEEP watering versus a little now and then.

Answer 3

Since your tree has been defoliated, it will need to survive on stored energy reserves to able to grow new leaves. For this reason, avoid removing any branches that are still alive (green) as you will diminish the amount of stored energy available.

Since the cause of failure is presumed to be heat and water stress to the roots, perhaps you need arrange for some timed watering system while the weather is still hot since it failed with your existing watering system which you have not changed.