So the last time it got any water was a month ago? No rain or irrigation? Its thirsty.

is that outdoor carpet? keep that away from the drip line. Mulch the tree and water it.

does mature tree need water? it doesn't have irrigation and we don't get much rain here, but for the past 10 years it's been fine. i'll try to see if watering helps. thanks

all trees no matter their age need watering especially during dry times or droughts. In late summer here in Oklahoma large trees will begin to stress and drop leaves during long periods without rain. Citrus tree roots are relatively shallow. usually in the upper 12" of soils. If that dries out the trees will suffer greatly. The leaves that are on it now will most likely fall off completely even after you water it.

Jeepers!! A MONTH ago you watered this poor tree? Oh my, yes, of course a mature tree needs to be watered! Any mature plant needs regular watering. Oh dear. I water my in-ground trees twice a week when we have warm weather, and we've had some terribly warm weather, lately. You tree is showing very clear signs of being water starved. Deep watering at the feeder roots which is edge of canopy for about an hour. Then, start watering your tree properly. Make sure you tree is moist at least 18" down. If it is drying out, time to deep water, again. Remove that artificial turf from under the tree as Mike mentioned. Also, pull off all the fruit - your tree has been severely stressed, and you need to allow it to recover, fully. Otherwise, you may end up with a dead tree. You will lose all the leaves, but if you continue to take care of your tree by properly watering, you'll see new flush. Once you do, water well, fertilize with citrus fertilizer at the drip line, the water in well. Fertilize you tree 4 times a year with your last fertilizer app put down around Oct/Nov.

Patty S.

Yes dont worry about that turf if there is concrete. Only pruning I would do is to remove dead or crossing branches. If can add a thick layer of wood mulch that will help you get through the dry times and retain a ton of moisture. just leave it back an inch or so from the trunk.

It's possible it was receiving water from somewhere in the last 10 years if you say it was healthy before this year. With your remodeling project were there any changes in regards to the plumbing, septic tank (if you have one) or sewer work? Or was there some other landscape feature, (shrubs, lawn etc.) that was removed or changed recently?

Sometimes an older tree that seems to be doing quite well without the homeowner watering it much, has found supplemental water somewhere by it's roots searching it out. When the unknown water supply is changed the tree will suffer, mysteriously to the owner.

I had a huge lush Blue Potato vine/shrub next to my house years ago. It was easily 12 feet tall and full of beautiful purple flowers, without us ever watering it. We found out it's roots were in the sewer line and ended up clogging it, so we had to remove the shrub. But that's why it was so healthy without us ever watering it. Water and fertilizer (!) all the time!

I've also known folks who's neighbors were watering on the other side of the fence and so their trees never needed water. When the neighbors put in a walkway and took out the plants and irrigation, the other folks trees became very water starved.

But what ever the reason, it's clear that they are now in need of water asap. Follow Patty's advice and they will probably recover.

i can't think of any major sewer / plumbing change but it is possible. we've watered it last nite for 20 mins and will pull all the fruits off tonite. hopefully it'll survive!!!

HAD to be getting some water from somewhere. I would soak it until a stick pushed in 12" is damp all the way down when removed. Don't let water keep hitting the trunk. Once it gets dehydrated, ALL those leaves will fall off.

If you are in most parts of SoCal, the next problem will be sun damage of the trunk and branches now that the leaves are falling off. It looks like there is already some damage to the trunks but hard to tell in the pictures.

I resurrected some of my severely damaged trees by putting shade cloth over them spring to fall to protect them from the sun but you could paint all the trunks and branches with latex paint diluted with an equal amount of water. Just depends how sunny it is in your area.

interesting - we are in Nor Cal (south of SF) - fairly sunny here. I'll google some pictures of sun damage to see!! thanks

Does the watering work? I am also in Nor Cal, my lemon tree have similar dying sign too.

Any concrete or mortar dumped close the tree? Can mess up the pH badly.

Did your tree survive, we had that happen to our Meyer Lemon her in New Zealand, so we cut it out. But now having exactly same problem with a mandarin, we have just picked all the mandarins and given it a spray coper sulphate and conquer spraying oil.,it has been a wet winter here so no need to water

I have this exact problem now. The tree is in the chook yard. I moved in 18 years ago and there were two trees close together. After about ten years one died..didn't care had the other and the chooks like the shade in summer. I am in South Western Australia which has hot summers and mild winters. I have never watered the trees directly because we are only 8ft to water and expect the roots to be in very moist sand 6 ft down. Three weeks ago there were some serious storms come through and all my trees received a very good drink. 8 ft away is a massive orange tree that yields over 600 oranges a year and i'm a bit concerned it might end up the same way. My initial thought was that the buildup of nitrogen from the chook poop is doing it but cannot find out much about nitrogen overdose. It currently has about 100 plus lemons on the tree atm which are small and withered as are the leaves. The leaves are yellowing and curling like it's thirsty. I will remove all the fruit from the tree and find a citrus spray for disease's and spray it. I have never bothered to fertilize the lemon because of the fowl droppings..funny thing is that the ground is damp around the base, so watering seems like it is not required. Interestingly though, there is fruit that has fallen a week ago, that is ripe and plump with perfect skin under the tree.So this is just happening.......confused.

Been, are you sure its roots are not waterlogged? Number one reason for backyard citrus dying is too much water or bad drainage. Otherwise you should look into disease and use the services of a local expert.

I have exact same problem now. @confused_newbie @Been Abong Did watering save the tree?