How I stop citrus trees from burning in the sun

Citrus trees can suffer from sunburn. In Australia we have some serious sun and in summer time with no protection, some citrus trees will get burnt. There's a lot of things we can do to help prevent it. Here are three simple ways to stop the burn and save your trees.

Provide part shade

Provide some shade for your tree by putting up some shade cloth. If your tree is in a pot you can move it into a shadier location. For some of my smaller trees, I put shade cloth on one side and it saves them during the major heat of the day. 

You'll find that the leaves will green up, get softer and grow larger in the shade. Adjust the amount of shade for each tree as their requirements are different. 

Oh and yeah, this is great for some fruit too. I've found our lemons don't burn as badly with a little shade. 

Paint the trunk white

Grab some paint that will last (water-based latex paint) or find tree trunk paint at your local home hardware centre. Some people mix it with white acrylic paint. 

Paint the bottom two thirds or wherever you see sunburn. You'll see the bark turning brown and eventually dying off if it's getting burnt. 

It's like sunscreen for trees!

Mulch around the tree

Mulching a few inches around the base is a great way to save water, keep the citrus tree roots moist for longer and trap some of the heat into the soil. 

Mulch the width of the tree. 

I hope these help, leave a comment if you give these a try. 

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