Well, I better give my own update now, so as not to be hypocritical...:) The moral of the story below is that even under two opposite scenarios of cold weather (advection frost with prolonged subfreezing temps versus a brief radiation frost) the fruit trees were largely unharmed by the mid to high 20's. -- SATURDAY NIGHT: low of 27F at my house, right on the nose with the National Weather Service Forecast for my area. It was cold and windy all night, and below freezing from about 7pm Sat until 9am Sunday, a very long period. There was even a thin layer of ice on some rainwater in a bucket on the south side of the house. The extent of the damage (peach, plum, pear, cherry, and apple in bloom) seems to be a few blackened new leaves on the mulberries, and a lot of droopy new growth on lilacs, maples, etc... that perked up during the day. --SUNDAY NIGHT: 28 was the forecast, but I was more concerned than the night before because of the lack of wind and clear skies. We ended up dipping to 26, but only briefly, and the sub-freezing period overall was short, maybe 6 or 7 hours. Plants were even less affected than the night before, none showing any drooping. There was no ice in the same bucket of rainwater. The long-range forecast shows predominantly lows in the 40's from now on, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we'll have some fruit this year...

Katrina, I am not sure to what depth you will need to go. You might get a better, more directed response if you post as a separate question - with all the tree mavins around, someone must know how deep. My first thought is to say at least 2', but whether or not you need to go deeper? I dunno, although my inclination is to say not, and that 2' may even be overkill - most feeder roots are in the top 12-15" of the soil, after all. And I can't say whether a solid barrier, like the heavy plastic used for bamboo, or a compost or mulch-filled trench, that you dig into on a monthly basis to cut off any new roots, would be the best option. Something else altogether might prove better. I could see using the metal panels for roofing, but there would be the gap where they overlapped, so a single roll of really heavy plastic might be best, or combining the two, for more certainty.... If you cut back the root system, then the tree won't have the reserves to grow replacements for the limbs you cut off as quickly or as fully. I think whether you do it now, or wait 'til fall is somewhat irrelevant - I would probably do it as you have time, once you have decided on a method. One reason to wait, though, would be if you are going to have heavy equipment come into your front yard, and if it might damage the barrier, whatever you do decide on. For that reason, doing both together, or the barrier after the tree trimming, might be the easier option. I don't know what the boundary between the properties looks like, and can't remember the photos from the earlier posting, so may be out of line - but could you "cede" a few feet on your side of the line to the tree roots, just mulching it? It would make it clear to your neighbor that your aren't really trying to kill his tree. (Well, maybe you ARE, but not too obviously!!) It would mean you can't or don't plant there, but it might not be too big an area, where not much would grow anyway, and would make it clear that you are "respecting" his boundaries. I don't know your relationship with this neighbor, but I would always prefer to err on the side on conciliation, until I can't any longer, of course....

A knee-jerk reaction might be to saturate the tree with insecticide. But I have a better idea. Identify the caterpillar and learn its life cycle. Tent caterpillars form their tents or webs in the crotches when cherry and crab apple first start leafing out. If no one is monitoring the tree the young foliage can be eaten but the tree usually bounces back. Learn how to recognize the egg masses on twigs. They look like they are coated with brown varnish. This is how they overwinter. Remove them one by one and put them in the fire. No toxic spraying needed. Sam

Thanks Josh and Mike for the encouragement! I guess that is really what I was looking for, someone to tell me it might be ok! LOL! I never had such a tragedy in my whole citrus 'career'. I do think I will lose 2 small young citrus I have, a key lime, which I know will be easy to replace, and a variegated Tiger Navel, which will not be as easy to replace. I got one from Logees a year and a half ago, and do not know if they even sell it anymore. I am just hoping the trees that I have that are 3 years or more will be ok. It just hurts to know I had nice plants from Four Winds get really root damaged in a matter of 2 months. As you know, they are not cheap. Good. News today I had an electrician come over and give me an estimate for a 2 circuit outdoor outlet for the greenhouse! So I can have enough electricity for 2 heaters when it gets below 15F, which is not much. But I will be atleast able to use some heat mats at the same time as the heater. So even if the air gets down to 40F, I can still have the soil above 50F at the least. Anyone ever make a bottom heater out of rope lights and sand instead of buying expensive heat mats? I have 3 separate heat mats but would like something that I can get in a section. My Solexx greenhouse is 8X16 long, and would like to get one half side of one side of the greenhouse of 4X8' to make a heated bottom for citrus only. The figs I have that take up a lot of space do not need such heat. So I am trying to figure out the best way to get my citrus to get warm roots this winter due to the recent damage, otherwise, Previous years have been just fine. Tanks! Christy