Looks like a goner to me; I would look for a new tree of a variety you want; but I wouldn't plant it in the same hole... you might well have a soil pathogen that has slowly killed your tree from the roots up. Nearby would be okay; but not too near the pines; pine trees are very intolerant of almost anything growing under them.

If it were me I'd get a new one and plant it somewhere different but still full sun and leave this one and try to save it(it still has some green), worse case you have a back up tree already planted/best case you have two trees. Either way make sure you pull back the grass around the base of the tree, at least as wide as the canopy of the tree if not more. It will steal all the nutrients away from the citrus and you going to need to get a good in ground citrus fertilizer or I have heard of people using a particular kind of grass fertilizer (with no weed killer) with success. I imagine your poor tree is starving from the grass and no food for 4+ years. Good news is in ground citrus is much easier than potted and that's what I am stuck with as of now due to my yard and growing zone, even though I am 8b like you I don't think I could successfully grow an orange in ground here. Good luck and hopefully someone will chime in with more advice!

They also have other even more cold hardy

check thes out

6b Steve

So, I can hold on to hope as long as there's green AND get another tree. I have a bunch to plant anyway, so a couple more won't hurt! I have read in this form about foliage pro... is that a fertilizer? The conservation rep recommended osmocote for the trees I just purchased. What are your feelings on that? I bought several persimmon trees and paw paw trees, as well as cypress... the cypress is going down by the water though. Thanks again for your input! I am terribly new to growing things.

I would, but I am a plant optimist I tend to hold on longer then most with hope of recovery. Foliage Pro is great for potted citrus but it would probably be too costly to use in ground. I think Laura and Silica use this: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008JSIKCU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_zqt-xbN251JX1 for their citrus (potted I believe) not sure on in ground application. I found this in an old post http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4351593/meyer-lemon-fertilizers?n=5 Hopefully Steve doesn't mind me passing it along.

poncirusguy

I feed my in ground citrus trees 32-0-4 grass feed.

6b Steve

Thanks a bunch Sammers!

Can you narrow down where you are in Louisiana a bit, it is possible to grow some types of citrus in ground in Louisiana in the southern part of 8b, without too much freeze protection, but the northern part of 8b can be much more challenging. As what to plant Satsuma's are the most cold hardy citrus that most people would consider a type of orange. Anything else orange like will require active freeze protection in the winter in 8b. Also Louisiana is a quarantine state for HLB and ACP so you must buy plants locally and can't legally bring them into the state. You will generally find a limited selection of citrus at nurseries and big box store garden centers and almost all of it will be grown by either Star Nursery or Saxon Becnel in Belle Chase. Star nursery has a web page with the types of citrus trees they grow http://www.starnurserybellechasse.com/products-page/  Saxon Becnel had a web page too, but it has been down for several months, I am not even sure they are still in business as they are not replying to questions on their facebook page and multiple people have reported that they don't answer their phone.

Ike, I live in Anacoco, zip code 71403. What is/are HLB and ACP? Thanks so much for taking time to help me!

ACP is the Asian citrus psyllid, a bug that was brought into the USA from people illegally smuggling citrus into the country. ACP is a carrier of HLB or Huanglongbing aka citrus greening disease that has decimated the Florida citrus industry and is now starting to show up in California. There is no cure for this terrible disease as of yet, the only thing that can be done is quarantine citrus growing areas so that the bugs/ disease in theory can't be moved around between states. It is extremely important that we follow these laws to make sure that we have viable citrus groves for our kids and grandkids in the future. Otherwise HLB will take all of the citrus away for future generations.

Evan

Good to know! Thanks for answering and educating! I live about an hour away from the "nursery capital of Louisiana", Forest Hill. I am assuming there is a difference in trees from nurseries vs. Big box store trees?

You are about 40 miles north of where I live, for your area I would suggest only Satsumas or Kumquats for outdoor citrus and even then you will want to protect it from hard freezes, particularly the first couple of years (covering with old sheets and warming with old style (non LED) large C7 or C9 Christmas lights. All it takes to kill citrus is one hard freeze like the one we had about 3 weeks ago.

If the one you currently have survives the winter, I would suggest keeping it and protecting it from the hard freezes next year, at a minimum cover it on nights of hard freezes, and maybe it will grow more.

As to where to buy it really does not make much difference since virtually all citrus plants in Louisiana are grown by either Star Nursery or Saxon Becnel both are just outside New Orleans. Part of the ACP / HLB quarantine requires citrus trees for sale to be grown in special isolation greenhouses with airlock doorways, and pressure differential (there should also be tags on any citrus tree you buy mentioning ACP quarantine). You might want to take a look at http://www.lsuagcenter.com/NR/rdonlyres/98F62871-B43E-4732-9A58-6E95F362B560/81678/pub1234lahomecitruslowres.pdf  Overall it has some good information, but I think they are a little conservative on what grows where, of course that has to do with what you consider reasonable risk when it comes to 25, 50, or 100 year freezes and if you are willing to protect your trees. Given your location you may want to buy dwarf varieties, these have the advantage of being a bit smaller when fully mature (8 ft vs 12 ft for Satsuma) making them easier to both pick and cover.

As to which specific variety of Satsuma to plant arguments can be made for most of the ones currently available, early season varieties that ripen in Sept / Oct tend to not taste as good, but they are safe from loose of fruit to early season freezes, Owari or Brown Select probably have the best flavor. None of the more recently developed cold hardy Satsuma varieties are for sale in Louisiana yet although Star Nursery does supposedly have some Miho Satsumas planted which are known to survive down to 15 degrees F, but they will not be available until the spring of 2018.

That was very informative. Not sure why I didn't think about the Ag center... they eally articles really helped with my blueberries. Do you have to do anything to your soil before planting in-ground? I live near a lake and have very little actual brown dirt. I have gumbo dirt. I found an old geological survey from the 1970's saying the soil was silty-loam. Will citrus grow in the ground, should the soil be amended with anything? I really appreciate your help! Thank you.

In ground citrus is fairly soil tolerant and likes sandy soil, you should be fine on that, but may need to adjust pH with some soil lime if you can grow blueberries without soil conditioning (as you probably know blueberries require very acidic soil, which is too acidic for many types of plants) , you will want to use some fertilizer, just don't over do it. I think the Ag center suggests 1 pound of fertilizer per year of tree age spread over 3 treatments from March to July. Personally I use Espoma Citrus Tone, you can get a 4 pound bag for $11 from Amazon.

Thanks again!

Get a tree grafted to Poncirus Trifoliata. do not get one of the Ponirus hybrids. This rootstock will give you a few degrees more hardiness and it prefers acid soil in the range that blueberries can still do well with. It will take an extra year to get to a good size but the wait will be well worth it.

6b Steve

Gotcha! Thanks so much!

I agree with Steve it would be best, but not an option with the limited legal local sources. I know Star nursery uses Carrizo and Flying Dragon, and I think Saxon Becnel uses the same, although I have seen some talk they were switching some to Trifoliata a year or two ago.

Go with Flying dragon over carrizo hands down.

Hi Lauren :) I'm new to this forum and thought I'd put in my two cents. It looks to me like your tree has been stunted due to water deprivation but its hard to tell exactly. It also looks to me like that is no longer the only issue. I would guess that if you were to dig it up you would find root rot and fungus of some kind. Best thing to do would probably be to take it out, especially if you intend to plant other citrus trees in the vicinity but if you're a " the leaf is still green" kind of gal I would cut the grass back as much as possible to let the trunk get a breeze past it and start using active bacterial fertilizers like a fish emulsion. The competition for dominance between the various bacterial cultures might give the roots enough of a break to start to regenerate. All that said, because I grow organically and because we don't know if it's a named variety (could be from seed), I recommend that you err on the side of caution and start fresh if you intend to plant other citrus. I hope you find this helpful. :)

So, I was finally able to clear all the grass from around the tree. The grass... ugh. Roots for days. While clearing, I found

Also... there is a thin metal bar that is stuck down into the ground at the trunk into the root area. It's not rusted and it does not just easily pull out of the ground. Should I remove it or leave it? I don't want to traumatized the tree too much. Thanks!

If the trees roots have grown around the bar you will have to leave it. If so invite friends over and ask them if this is an orange or Ironwood tree. Otherwise remove the bar.

6b Steve