Hello citrus keepers, I have no trouble with citrus trees except when it comes to the weakest link- the Meyer lemon. We have neighbors with them and they are robust and happy. However. I have one in a whiskey barrels with extreme leaf miner, and one in the ground with literally no leaves- it grew a few flower flushes this summer and no leaves at all- yesterday's windy weather too the last pathetic leaves off.

The other lemon trees i have are fine. I want to grow some dwarf citrus as a hedge but the husband says no way we can spend $$$ unless I manage to resurrect this one. He is convinced it is the environment.
Here is the setup: this is a three foot tall Meyer lemon grown on a trellis. The trellis is on a fence with a western exposure. The top roots are exposed. Soil is lightly enriched and well draining Northern California orchard soil, passion fruits, oleanders, other citrus, stone fruits and gardenias(with an acid mulch) all do ok in it. I feed one time a month with green all citrus and avocado food. Water one x a week, twice in hot weather.

I got the tree last winter and there was a rare freeze- I lay the tree in its pot down in a sheltered spot and covered it with bubble wrap and towels for the three freezing nights. After planting, it slowly went downhill- no fertilizing in winter but when other citrus started growing I started fertilizing, over the summer all the leaves curled and dropped off. The branches are still green so it is not dead.

Any ideas at all?
Pea