how much of the root ball did you dig out? i would image an 8' tree would have significant amounts of roots that would have been cut off when it was dug out.

green means it still has a chance to survive. i would prune off the dead brown branches. mulch to retain moisture and to keep the roots cool.

in addition to what houston suggested, I would fix some sort of shade cloth over it and try to protect it from wind if possible. You could construct a "tent" over it out of PVC pipe and put some shade cloth on it. If its in full sun it probably wont make it with out some protection.

mike

thanks so much for the help. I really appreciate it. It is shaded from the wind, luckily. And only gets sun until about 2pm... I think I can also rig a shade cloth to help protect it.

Houston, when you say prune the dead braches... would you cut pretty much everything that's brown and brittle? There are some branches that are half green... then you can see they are dead beyond a certain point. Would you leave those be...or prune it to the end of the spot with life?

The root ball was about 2 and 1/2 to 3 feet in diameter... it was the best we could do given the manpower and location... but we def. lost some roots.

you can remove the obvious dead ones. If you are unsure scrap a bit of bark with your fingernail, if its green leave it. Personally I wouldnt touch it at all, just keep it watered well and then do any pruning once it recovers.

good luck.

Mike

At this point I agree with mksmith. Keep it well watered, (but not over watered), Let the tree try to heal itself. If it is on it's own roots, it could even die back to ground level and come back, (hopefully it will recover before this Happens though). And as mksmith said, once new growth starts showing up, and the tree is well on its way to recovery, then I'd begin pruning off the obviously dead tissue.

You need to severely prune back the tree. Prune it back to the extent that you lost roots. I'd start at 50% cut off at least. Keep watered and cross your fingers.

Here is a link that might be useful: mrtexas

I agree with MrTexas. Your significantly reduced root system could not support the canopy that the tree had. All obviously dead branches should be removed. On the branches with partial dieback, remove all dead wood up to 1/2 inch of the live wood. This way you can monitor continued dieback. If the resultant canopy still appears too large for the rootball that you left for it, I would even cut into green wood to reduce it more. As sad as that is, when/if it recovers, it will be less straggly and its shape will recover quicker. You want the tree to grow new roots before new leaves in order for it to stop its decline.

As far as the transplant goes, just make sure now that you did not plant the tree too low in the ground. It is a common error, and it would be a shame if it begins to recover only to decline later due to it settling too low.

I agree with mrtexas and justfigured. It sounds like you had to leave behind a large portion of the roots. The tree has lost a lot of its power to gain water and nutrients; some of the branches are just too far away to be bothered with, or it can't physically "pump" water that far.

Many people think that leaving as many leaves as possible on a tree like this will help the roots recover. They figure it will provide more surface for sunlight to hit, which should make more energy, right? However, there is a major reason why this tactic ultimately fails: plants transpire through their leaves, so removing some leaves helps the plant retain what precious water it can take up with its diminished roots. Plants need water to perform photosynthesis; if there's limited water, it doesn't matter how much light it gets.

I would suggest pruning the branches back to about 50% of their original volume. I know this sounds scary, but the tree can handle it! Keep the tree protected from direct light and wind: sounds like you have wind covered, but definitely use the shade cloth method mentioned previously. It is most important that the tree is protected from those last 3-4 hours of harsh sun (10 am until 2 pm). Keep your eye on the soil moisture. You don't want to let it dry out completely, obviously, but citrus hate sitting in a puddle. You can use a wooden dowel/skewer, inserted six inches into the soil beneath the tree, to get a feel for how damp the soil is.

Good luck, and keep us updated!

thanks everyone. I have it shaded and mulched and am keep it watered. I've also trimmed the dead branches off... to about 50 percent of the original canopy. I will let you know how it all goes!