picture attached. something chewed at my citrus tree bark (meyer lemon and mexican lime). what can I do other than wrap the base with some screen of some kind.
Thank you for contacting the Toronto Master Gardeners.
While the picture of your damage to your citrus tree is not great, it appears you have planted the citrus tree in your garden. Citrus trees are not hardy to this zone and cannot withstand the winter temperatures. Citrus trees in this climate are house plants but can be placed outside during the summer once the temperatures at night is above 10 degrees C. If you place the plant outside, choose a spot that gets morning sun then shade in the afternoon. When it’s time to move it indoors in the fall, make this change gradually.
Below is a fact sheet from Clemson College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences. There is some good information on how to grow a citrus tree in a container. https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/citrus/
Also I have included a response to an orange tree damage by a squirrel that parallels your situation. https://www.torontomastergardeners.ca/askagardener/ornamental-orange-tree-bark-damage-by-squirrels/
As the response clarifies, the wound dressing is generally considered to be of no help, and can sometimes harbour harmful organisms. To prevent further loss of bark, protect the entire height of the trunk with a section of flexible, not too tight, plastic, tree wrap, slotted to allow air flow, to mitigate bark rot. When bark is removed from trees, the cambium layer of sugars and nutrients is exposed. When wounded, the cambium begins to grow a new protective wall, as a barrier against decay in new tissues: called compartmentalization.
Good luck.