Collecting Citrus sinensis

I have a friend that wants a 5 foot tall orange tree (citrus sinensis) removed from his yard. I'm heading over this morning to see if it looks like a reasonable bonsai candidate, but wanted to see if anybody had any experience and advice working with these. Thanks!

Most Citrus sp. are only fair (if that) as bonsai.

If its no good for bonsai you could always move it to your garden as a fruit tree. Citrus move easily as long as you cut back hard & take a good size rootball, early spring is best but I have had success at all times of year.

Also agree with Jim, they are at best fair bonsai subjects, not demanding in growing needs beyond being heavy feeders, they are difficult to style convincingly & leaf reduction is not great so look better in larger sizes.

Thanks guys, sadly the condition of the tree was too rough to even transplant. There was only one barely live branch on it. My friend quit watering it 1.5 years ago, and 2 Phoenix summers take their toll on even the strongest trees! The graft on it was also swollen to about twice the size of the trunk, so not good for bonsai even if it would survive the transplant. But hey, doesn't hurt to look, right?

Sorry to hear its not worth saving. The graft swelling can be an issue with alot of citrus but airlayering soon sorts that, additionally, unlike many grafted plants most citrus are good strong growers on their own roots so a layer can be put at the thickest part of the trunk and you dont have to make sure its below the graft union.