I'm sorry John! I don't know enough to help you, but I'm sure someone here does ;-)

Thanks Silica. I might try a happy medium and wrap the upper end with a piece of fiberglass mesh drywall tape. It has LOTS of breathing holes and might help keep the bark from peeling away from the trunk and drying out. I'm not sure if it dries and curls away from the inner wood or if it curls out and then dries out but that's my main concern. I suspect the problem with wrapping is it keeps the area too wet and encourages fungus.

Impressive recovery from a hard freeze! I'd leave it alone. It should heal up pretty quick without intervention as long as it stays dry. You're right about the fungus problem! If you really want to help it out, remove grass out to the drip line so it doesn't have to compete for fertilizer, and it will thank you!

-Tom

Thanks Tom. I have too many trees to keep the grass back on all of them by hand and I don't want to use a herbicide so....I just pitch in when I can and let them duke it out until they ultimately shade out the grass. My trees grow slower but I also have more time to play with a wood lathe, remodel my house, play mandolin, keep my car running, and go fishing! I have a neighbor who had a commercial Satsuma orchard that she bulldozed several years ago after a hard freeze. My Satsuma trees survived with practically no damage....maybe it was luck, soil, or exposure differences....or maybe smaller growth rings and a more organic approach leads to a more hardy tree. It's a good point though Tom.....I just don't make the time and I find ways to rationalize it!

Jus a comment: Trees growing on bare ground survive hard freezes better than trees growing in areas with vegetation growing under them.

Silica, I guess the grass reduces the temp by adding more surface area for evaporative cooling. I have gone in and hand-pulled the grass now and then but it's a chore I seldom do.

Here is my happy medium between bandaging and not bandaging the bark crack. I took a few turns around the upper part that was trying to dry out and peel away from the trunk. The material is fiberglass mesh they use for sheetrock finishing. I'll keep an eye on it and post anything that might indicate it was helpful or not helpful.

Here is an update on the splitting blood orange bark. The tree still looks healthy but lots of new bark splits have appeared.

I wonder why you have more splits...?? How is the tree otherwise? I hope it will be ok John!

Thanks Laura, I assume the additional splits are late manifestations of freeze damage but it seems odd it would have taken this long to show. I would be less surprised if the weather were unusually hot and dry this spring but it has actually been on the wetter side.

Latent freeze damage in my opinion. I have seen some of this (evidence) show up a full year after the / a freeze. My guess is that the bark/phloem is struggling to rebuild functionality and some parts of it just don't come back. Its highly annoying.. but not much you can do other than be patient.