Irene, I've used several kinds of protection. For wire cages, I use 3 feet of wire to make a one foot diameter cage. Most of the time I start my scaffolds above the cage. I rub off any lower buds.

Well I am slowly working my way through the thousands of threads on the board, thanks. But what can I say...strawberries and trees are both vegetable life forms, and I thought the principle of focusing the plant's efforts in a certain direction to be universal. After all, what is pruning after all, and what you do with strawberry flowers is merely a specific form of pruning. But hey, if it wont work I'll bow to the more experienced on this matter. Got enough work on my hands as it is :P Incidentally, the intent was to get the tree a healthy and strong root and limb system. I can wait an additional year or two for flowers if it means the tree will be healthier. But I think I will have to take your warning about overwatering to heart. I daresay that's exactly the trend I would be likely to take. Lord knows I overthink things too :P Learning a lot from this board, thanks for you input.

It is very normal for most of the flowers to fall from the tree. Only about 1 to 3 percent of citrus flowers will develop fruit. If every flower resulted in a fruit, the tree would be crushed under its own weight. Lastly adding gravel to the bottom of a container is not a good idea. All it does is raise the perched water table higher in the container. It does not help with draining.

Keep as much plant as you can. So sorry about the buds being eaten.