Can anyone tell what's going on with my lemon tree?

[IncyWincyEyeroll]

I am confused. It seems dead at the top but green shoots are coming out from the trunk?

I got a small potted lemon tree last summer, and kept it outside but protected from frost with mulch and fleece over winter. On advice from my neighbour (who has a lovely lovely garden compared to my amateur one, so I assume she knows things), I pruned the top bits that looked deadened. A few weeks later, everything looked more dead (further down from the top) and I thought I'd killed it. Now lovely little green shoots are coming out from the trunk, but the top - where I'd expect the lemons to eventually come back - still looks deader than dead? I'm really happy that something's still going on in there (it was a lovely tiny tree last summer, lots of lemony scent and the lemons were good), but what do I do now? Just ignore it and let it do its thing, or do I cut off the not green bits at the top? Photos attached

(As you can probably tell, I'm a novice gardener. I am trying to learn, though!)

Unfortunately, I think the root stock has survived and is shooting, but the grafted top that had lemons last year is dead.

My calamondin tree lives outside in warm weather and inside over the winter. It’s evergreen.

From your description I wondered whether your tree was grafted, had died, and you had shoots from the rootstock, below the graft. But there’s no evidence of a graft on that trunk, so I think all that has happened is it’s been cut back by that really cold snap last winter, and is regenerating from lower down

cut off the dead bits. Once they’re dead, they won’t regenerate. Cut back bit by bit . Once you can see green under the bark, you’re back into live stuff and can stop cutting

The bits low down are water shoots, the plant puts them out in response to stress. They should be rubbed off as soon as they appear, they're no good for the plant.

If it's any consolation my lemon tree is in a similar state right now, I left it in my greenhouse over winter and it has lost all it's leaves. There's still green branches on it though and it'll come back with a bit more time.

Next year I'll be bringing it into the conservatory again like I used to 😂

Do you know if your tree is from a pip or has been grafted? My (pip) tree had a hard winter but grew back. If it's grafted it looks like the graft has died, as a pp said.

Ah, interesting. I don't know if it was grafted or grown from pip (I got it at a similar size to now).

So when I cut it back last month, I cut the branches to where it was green, but then those bits have now died - it's like the deadness has travelled down the branches, if that makes sense?

Oh really? Ah! I thought they were good news!

I can rub them off tomorrow. Is there anything I can do to reduce the stress on the tree? I topped up the pit with fresh compost when I took the fleece off but haven't given it any feed or anything

(And thank you everyone who has replied, I really appreciate it)

It just needs some time, fertiliser, and the right amount of water until it gets back on it's feet!

And in the winter it needs to be kept above 5c ideally. Mines a few years old and I have had lemons off it before but I let it get too cold 2 winters running now and it's paid the price, poor thing! I'll over winter it in a warmer place this year and it should be back to full health next year

Do the cutting back before you take off the water shoots in case they're all you have. But now I'm looking at the picture on the desktop not a tablet, you do have some green branches at the top, so as @c3pu says, you want the growth to come from there rather than the lower down shoots which would spoil the shape of your tree and turn it into a bush.

The problem with the water shoots is that they'll inhibit growth from the top. Not a problem if the top is completely dead anyway, but yours may not be. And also if you have one shoot that is dominant, the plant will put all its energy into that one.

You may find this useful, including the link to the frost damage pruning video.
https://plants4presents.co.uk/plant-care/pruning-citrus-trees

Blimey. That's brutal pruning. Ok, I think maybe I didn't prune enough first time around. I really thought I'd done too much...(but then I also thought it only had mild damage and it was definitely in the "last severe example" category on that video 😬 )

So tomorrow I should:
Cut back the branches to well into the green parts, as per the video
Rub off green shoots
Give it some sort of feed/fertiliser? I'm planning on going to the garden centre tomorrow, is there anything especially good for lemon trees?

And then bring it in over winter next time! (bugger, it's in a bloody heavy pot)

*c3pu

It just needs some time, fertiliser, and the right amount of water until it gets back on its feet!

And in the winter it needs to be kept above 5c ideally. Mines a few years old and I have had lemons off it before but I let it get too cold 2 winters running now and it's paid the price, poor thing! I'll over winter it in a warmer place this year and it should be back to full health next year*

I'm really regretting not bringing it indoors now! Lesson learned, and it's a relief to hear they're fairly recoverable. Fingers crossed. It was honestly such a lovely tree to have last summer, so much fantastic lemony scent and lovely fruit. I feel bad that I let it get damaged. Here's hoping for 2025?!

Is yours in a big pot? Mine is in a very tall heavy one, wondering if I could repot it now to put it in a more moveable one, looking ahead. But perhaps that would stress it out even more?

Don’t rub out the water shoots if you find you haven’t got anything left above them. Only if you’ve got live branches above them whose re-shooting is being inhibited by their presence.

I nearly lost mine last year through forgetting to water it. Down to bare sticks.

Thanks for the advice, and for making me feel better!

Have pruned and fed. Here's hoping 🤞🤞🤞