Lemon tree - help

[Twoshoesnewshoes]

Please help!
I have a much neglected lemon tree in my courtyard- he got left out for some of the winter and his leaves fell off. I assumed he’d had it so didn’t tend to him at all.
now there is some new growth on the bare branches, what should I do now? I’d love to nurse him back to health.
thanks x

A good dose of citrus tree food when it needs watering will work wonders. This one is excellent:

citruscentre.co.uk/collections/not-plants/products/fertiliser

Also the people who run that website and grow the trees are fantastic for advice!

Do you have a photo of it?

Always exciting to see new growth. Definitely a citrus feed and if you need to repot at a later date a specific citrus compost will do wonders.

I have never heard of citrus tree food, will try to out on our little lemon tree.

As above, do you have a greenhouse where it can overwinter?

Just a sunny room by a window, or a conservatory, is fine for overwintering. I bring my lemon and lime into my living room every winter before the first frosts and they stay there until May.

Thank you, that’s really helpful, I’ve ordered the citrus feed. Should I wait til Autumn to repot?

Water it well and keep it in dappled shade outside for the rest of the summer. Unless you think that it is totally pot-bound or there are pests in the soil, it might be better to leave repotting until it is stronger. If there are any obviously dead bits with no green showing under the bark when you scrape it, then you might as well cut that off now.

Keep an eye out for scale insects and other nasties like aphids too. Scale insects seem to really home in on sickly trees and they can be quite hard to spot against the bark.

Are you in the UK?! plenty of water,rain, ideally,soak the pot a good 15 minutes in a bucket. Spray the leaves with rainwater,to deter pests. often does them good to loose their leaves,you get lovely fresh growth. Wait till spring to re -pot. We don't feed ours till they have flowers,then use the granular feed, dissolved in water. Specific Summer. Then winter feed

A regular spray with this is really good for keeping scale insects etc away:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/SB-Plant-Invigorator-500ml-Concentrate/dp/B00BIG471S/ref=ascdff_B00BIG471S/

Also when you water it, don't use cold water straight from the tap. They don't like it. I put the feed and water in a watering can and let it warm up in the sunshine (or in winter, inside to room temp) before watering. It is a labour of love to grow them in the UK but worth it IMO!