I can't understand how anyone could look at the provided pictures and think that the tree might be stable. If it were stable, the large gap between the tree and the surrounding soil wouldn't exist. The tree is falling over. It may be a matter of hours or a matter of years, but chances are very good that it will eventually collapse. The larger it gets, the more potential damage it may do and the harder it will be to clean up. IMO, excavating the root flare is an exercise in futility, at best. The tree has obviously been there for a while, and the damage from improper planting depth (if any) has already been done. Changing the relative surface depth now will not resurrect dead roots and is unlikely to improve the tree's condition in any way. It could even be counter-productive by killing/damaging adventitious and adaptive roots and by making a sunken area around the base of the tree that would hold/funnel water. Of course the biggest reason that the procedure would be a waste, in this case, is that the tree needs to be removed anyway.

Agree with ken, exercise your warranty but if that doesn't work, DO NOTHING except water only if it needs it. And for heaven's sake, don't apply any more fertilizer. And for Pete's sake (getting several of the "sakes" in, here) take those funky strings off! It is a small enough tree that I doubt wind will hurt it. And use the rebar to drive away burglars! ;o) hortster

My humblest apologies for my long posts. The firmness of the roots is a good thing. Be wary of disturbing the actual root mass unnecessarily--it just may cause more damage. I know someone who bare-roots her trees every time there may be a problem, and I've been doing my best to discourage this process (ahem. you know who you are ;) Ultimately and ideally, in a potted tree, you do want lots of fine roots for nutrient uptake as opposed to woody lignified roots taking up space, but if the roots are so fragile they are breaking off essentially spontaneously, then they are not viable anyway. pH does seem to be one of those topics that sets some people off for an unclear reason, but I now fall into to the camp of I-don't-really-care-about-it. pH management in *containerized* soils is different from the earth and the reason it is a PIA IMHO is b/c it is extremely dynamic. (Out of curiosity, what is your method for checking--is it pH paper or a meter?) Having said that, citrus do prefer a *slightly* acidififed soil, but they are not blueberries. Most tap water is going to be basic to some degree to keep contaminants from precipitating out, but since you've used bagged soil, there is a very high likelihood that there is a good portion of peat moss in your mix and therefore you've already got a slightly acidified soil. I'd leave that alone for now. Otherwise, you can add a light dose of slow-release fertilizer that is nitrogen-dominant, and since many sources of nitrogen are acidifying on their own that may help. Also, I've seen a brand of those slow-release granules that also has sulfur in it, and that might help over time. When you do fertilize otherwise, you can choose an acidifying formula that way too (I use Miracid for the most part). No, thorns do not *precede* growth. They *accompany* it and you should be seeing something besides just thorns if you really do have some sort of growth. Other possibilities are thorns that you missed previously since there were more leaves to cover then, actual new vegetative growth forming (doubtful if you're still seeing signs of decline like continued leaf loss), or the beginnings of massive pathologic stress-bloom. You're going to have to wait awhile before you see results--I had a tree in CHCs (stupidly) for over a year before I pulled that sucker out and rehabbed it, and it was easily 5 mos or so before I felt like I had made any progress with it whatsoever. The tree's stored energy is eseentially depleted and it has to have time to build that back up. Which is hard when it doesn't have many funtional roots and reduced leaf surface area. Something some speak of, but I don't do, is to prune it back significantly and reduce the canopy mass when you have had major root damage. The main reason I find this difficult is that often leaves will drop first from the inside of the canopy in this situation (older leaves), and then if you prune it back you're cutting off the rest of the leaves--shooting self in the foot while you're at it, lol. The tree needs maximal photosythetic area. Personally, I think citrus is hard to kill if you've got the basics down. It's easy for them to get into trouble, but I don't think they actually die that easily from stuff like this. So it's reasonable to keep trying with this tree. Branch dieback will be your guide, but even if the graft goes, the rootstock can survive--and then in a little while you have someplace where you can do your own grafting. How appropriate--lemonade out of lemons. Literally. Please keep us updated on your progress. Hopefully someone else will comment--where is tapla, bencelest, eyeckr, jackpines, citrusboy? Surely you gents can help us out here...oh wait, I know where they are--they're sick of my longwinded posts :)

Thanks for the link. I'm fairly certain my tree does not have DED. I did call the City of Calgary because I heard they have a dedicated person or team that monitors for DED in the city. Sure enough they put me in touch with the appropriate people and within 2 days someone was here to inspect the tree. I wasn't home when the person arrived but his verbal report to my wife was "all clear". I was disappointed not to be able to pick his brain regarding the trees apparent poor health. As for the other diseases mentioned in the article, neither of them appear to match my tree's symptoms. Things have become progressively worse of the past week. All the leaves are very large now and it almost appears that the leaf stems are too weak to hold up the weight of the leaves. All the leaves now are pointing straight to the ground. It's a sad looking tree... The folks at Green Gate Garden Center believe there could be a problem with watering or poor drainage...however both trees are being treated the same and only one is showing problems. I find this hard to accept since the problem as been apparent for 3 years now, and each season has brought slightly different moisture to the ground. This spring, for example, has been very cool and late with decent rain and some watering. Confused...?!?!