Never prune a citrus tree unless a branch is coming out at a bad angle for your needs. The citrus trees store their food in their and branches instead of in their roots. Those branches will die anyway. The tree will reabsorb all the nutrients it can and self "prune".

There are NO citrus trees that will grow colder than zone 9a with out protection ready to install in a heart beet. There are no citrus capable of colder than 8a with out installing protection every winter. North of 7a you need a greenhouse with a heating system. You and I are in 6 with you in A and me in B. What I have to do to keep them alive is beyond phenomenal. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME.

Go by the 511 potting soil formula and grow indoors. Here is a picture of my seed grown tangerine tree in its quadruple glazed lean-to greenhouse. The link sends you to my Photobucket slideshow on winter growing. From their you can get access to all my citrus growing techniques.

The white box marks the waterspout shoot that goes to the top and the black line marks the height of the tree before the extra fast shoot started and out grows the rest of the tree. The older limbs will die when the tree is ready to release them No need to prune.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: http://s1094.photobucket.com/user/wreristhechimney/slideshow/sunshine2013

It should recover from your pruning, in time. Mine grow in the ground, and the only pruning they get(other than that done by deer)is to keep them off the ground, and tip back any any wild branch growing out of the general shape of the tree. Al

Hardy chicago figs do well planted outside in your area. I bought mine from

http://ediblelandscaping.com/products/shrubs/Figs/

They grow fast so get the least expensive one they have SALE Get a few if you want an appreciable harvest Check out my fig thread.
FIG ARE A WINNER.

Steve

Here is a link that might be useful: http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/fig/msg0223165126211.html

Well, hard to advise you post-facto and with no photos. Next time, run it by the forum before you whip out those pruning shears :-) Your landscaper, although well-meaning, may not know anything about citrus trees, since they do not grow in your area. Citrus are tip-producers, so when you prune away the tips, you prune of potential fruit production. However, with seedlings, that may be some time in the (significant, as in 8 to 12 year) future. Citrus require very little pruning. Seedlings tend to want to grow as these tall single-leader trees, so topping or punting can stimulate lateral growth. Without photos, we really can't help you much, but I would stop with the pruning for now. I prune my in-ground citrus trees very little - much like Al does - prune away branches that touch the ground (to discourage snails and slugs from a path to the leaves), and any dead branches or heavy inside branching and crossing branches. And, occasionally a crazy wild water sprout will get trimmed to the edge of the canopy to encourage a more uniform canopy and avoid spit branches that might get heavy with fruit.

And, not sure what Steve is talking about, with the "never prune" or "branches dying anyway". Branches should not die back. That can be a sign of un-health. Even lower branches, Steve. Anything that does die should be pruned back to healthy wood. But, that is really more something you would see in an in-ground tree, and tends to happen more on the inside of a tree canopy, when it can get very dense, and there is lack of light deep inside the canopy (common to prune older citrus trees to remove inside dead wood and open the canopy. ) If your container tree branches are dying, I would be very concerned.

Provide the trees with very well draining potting mix (they hate to have we roots and will die if too wet), lots and lots of light (the more the better, even with supplemental full-spectrum artificial lights to supplment your sunny window), and regular fertilizing. Most container citrus folks on this forum use Dyna Gro Foliage Pro as it is safe to use frequently (non-urea based N source), and will fertilize with every watering. 1/2 strength during the slower growing winter months, full strength in the faster growing late spring through early fall months (when the trees are usually moved outside for more sun).

So, post up some photos. Let's see the damage. We can better assess the situation if we have some photos.

Patty S.

Patty. The older branches that are out grown by other branches will loose their leaves after a year or so. If these limbs don.t grow new wood the tree will let them die. If those limbs are in a good place the tree will put on new growth on them. This is normal

Steve

Thanks for all the replies.

Like I said before, I hacked them off pretty good, like I would any deciduous apple or pear, expecting them to grow back. I wasn't really thinking about the differences between native deciduous trees and non-native citrus. I removed enough greenery from them both to stuff an entire garbage bag, if that gives you any idea. Prior to this (I have no recent pictures before I trimmed them) they were actually fairly lush, foliage wise. The only reason I trimmed them was on the advice of someone who purportedly knew more about gardening than I did.

Fruit isn't a concern for me, as I've treated the trees as purely ornamental. Since I sprouted them from seed from less-than-clear origin, I'm going to assume that they're probably infertile hybrids anyway. They have flowered before, but I've never seen any fruits.

Additionally, I left them outside much longer this year than I have for any previous years. Usually, I take them in when it gets into the lower forties, however this year, due to a plethora of other responsibilities that I've been juggling, they stayed out as the temperature dropped well into the teens. I think there might have even been a single-digit night in there toward the end. If they're particularly susceptible to that kind of temperature drop, then pruning them might be the least of their problems anyway.

My chief concern here, since what's done is done, is whether or not they'll be able to recover from what I've gone and done to them, and if there's anything I can be doing to expedite that recovery. It's the beginning of cold season here, so outdoor sunlight is impossible. The pots they are in are less than ideal in size, and the soil that they're in is also less than ideal, but after trimming them back this severely, I'm not certain whether or not repotting is a good idea.

So, the TL;DR of it is that I've made a mistake trimming them back as much as I have, but I'm interested to know if there's anything I can do to help the recovery besides wait and see if they keep growing.

Steve, that is not what happens. Not sure where you're getting that information. Provide data to support your comments. I have many citrus trees in the ground that after 5 years are still sporting their lower branches full of foliage.

Dachre. OMG. First, your trees are in bad shape. They are either frost-damaged or extremely dry. It is very hard to tell because I can't see the soil. But the curled leaves are a sign of significant stress. Could be from frost, could be due to lack of water. The pruning right now is the least of your worries. Check the soil and if it is dried out, soak well, letting the water run out and to re-hydrate what could be hydrophobic soil (potting soils heavy in peat that are allowed to dry out can become hydrophobic - will not re-absorb water). So, you may need to really really soak the soils of both trees to get the soil rehydrated.

Once you've done that, and the trees show signs of recovery, I would suggest you consider re-potting with a better potting mix. This forum has recipes for both "511 mix" and "Gritty Mix". Both are excellent for indoor container citrus, allowing for good drainage. Potting mediums heavy in peat can present many issues, one I've already mentioned, and the other, quite the opposite - retaining too much water and causing root rot (the most common reason for demise of indoor container citrus).

Next, once repotted, and the trees have recovered from the shock of repotting, I would start fertilizing with a high quality water-soluble fertilizer with the proper NPK ratio for citrus that also contains the full complement of micronutrients. Most container citrus folks on this forum prefer to use Dyna Gro's Foliage Pro, as it has all the above, and its N source is 100% non-urea based. Very important to avoid salts (biruet) build up, which can cause root and leaf burn. Folks will fertilize with every feeding, 1/2 strength during the slower growing winter months, full strength during the warmer spring/summer months, when the trees can be brought outside.

And, of course, no more pruning. Let the trees recover and push out more foliage. Citrus trees can re-leaf at the leaf nodes (on the existing branches), so provide all the above and a lot of light (supplementing if necessary with full spectrum grow lights).

Citrus are amazingly resilient. If you take very good care of your trees, they should rebound. If this is frost damage, expect most if not all the leaves to drop. But, follow the above advice and the trees should releaf.

Patty S.

Patty I keep forgetting, I have seedlings and you have mature trees that are producing fruit. I have been observing the growth of trees since I was 12 years old. Trees shed most of their juvenile limbs unless one get a jump over the rest. That limb become one of the big branches unless it gets shaded. My Meyer lemon trees are not shedding but all my seed grown trees shed their weaker lower branches once the leaves are used up. Some of my branches remained green for 5 months and when the last 3 leaves dropped the branch quickly turned brown and died. This happened while branches in much better positions grew with gusto.

The lower limbs of my sweetlee tangerine trees are now 10 months old. They will probably loose their leaves and then will either die and send the energy to more aggressive growth in better positions, Or leaf out in new growth. In my case I am getting new growth in much better places on the tree with no activity below the white box in the picture above. When the leaves drop I will prune the limbs off.

Steve

My seedling in-ground trees have not shed their lower branches or leaves, Steve. I have a pummelo x seedling that is about 20' tall, and it still has it's lower branches and leaves. I have never seen that with a citrus tree. Maybe over many years, but not in the first year. A seedling will lose its first set of cotyledon leaves, but that is something entirely different. I would say it may be due to stress in your tree's case, but this is not something a tree normally does that I have ever seen, as a set "thing" (i.e., "...lose the lower branches the first year:")

And, I think you're referring to "Lee" mandarin? There is no mandarin cultivar named, "Sweetlee" that I am aware of? Lee is a very nice mandarin, and used frequently in crosses. Has some nice qualities. I have Lee in my orchard. It was used to create the 88-2 mandarin cultlivar, (Lee x Nova), which is a wonderful mandarin, and superior a bit to Lee as it is seedless.

Patty S.

Here is a link that might be useful: UCR Citrus Variety Collection: Lee Mandarin

Patty

I bought a bunch of tangerines at a grocery store in PA called "sweetlee tangerines". I ate them in PA and brought their seeds home and researched the sweetlee. I found one article with 2 sentances explaining that it was an attempt to breed a tree that get fruit extra early for more northern growing. I planted the seeds.

Every time I google "sweetlee" tangerine trees I get tons of results towards my posts and pictures as well as articles on the "LEE" liud sdf kjgo uyirw sfgje and more goble-dee-goop "SWEET" tangerine tree.

I live a lot colder north than you do. My area loose significantly more light. The trees loose leaves, and the strong trees drop their lower limb and branch out from higher up to the top and the weak trees die down from the top and send out shoots from close to the ground.

My kumquats die back to with in a half foot of the ground and shoot for the sky with even thicker stems. My sweetlee trees also send out thicker and thicker water sprouts. The side limbs bow outward. a few are sending out or growth, but the others are just producing food for the tree. Eventually theses leaves will die at which point the tree must send out new growth or drop the limbs. Either way I will cut them off and allow the tree to send out growth in a much better area. You get a lot more sun and citrus weather. Our trees will grow very different.

We bay both be right on this call. You do have a lot more experience with the tropic/subtropic than I ever will.

Steve

PS my kumquat are sick.