Doug Hetherington
Knowing when and how to prune citrus fruit trees ( lemons , limes , grapefruit , tangerines , oranges , andMeyer lemons ) will keep your plant strong , healthy , and producing lot of high-pitched - timbre fruit . Most citrus tree need a minimal amount of pruning , but they benefit from an one-year trim . Keep your citrus trees in hint - top shape with this step - by - tone pruning guide .
1. Prune Right After the Harvest
The best time to prunea citrus tree is like a shot after harvesting the fruit . This is commonly former spring or early downfall , bet on the specific type of citrus tree and your grow zona . In most share of the country , February through April are the sound times to prune acitrus tree diagram .
Citrus trees bloom and yield on new ontogenesis so lop properly after the harvest time give the tree time to put on unexampled emergence . That young growth will protect the newly break wood from the summertime sunshine .
Do not cut back citrus between May and October since it exposes branch and trunks to direct sun , making them susceptible to sunscald .
Credit:Doug Hetherington
2. Use the Right Tools
utilise hand prunersto remove sprouts and modest arm and a pruning saw or loppers on larger branches . verify yourtool blades are sharpso your cut are clean . And to help oneself prevent the spread of plant disease , sterilise your pruning toolsby dip them in a 10 % bleach solution before you start pruning , and between freestanding trees .
When get rid of a branch from a citrus plant life , cut it back to the swollen-headed area where the branch joins the trunk . That area of flora tissue is call the offshoot collar , and it heals quick after a track is made . Making the cut just outside the subdivision collar also preclude weak sprout regrowth . If you make thecommon pruning mistake of abridge a arm off too highabove the branch collar , the cut heals more slowly and there ’s a peachy chance thattree diseasesor pests will attack .
4. Remove Dead and Damaged Branches
Remove expectant or small branches that are dead , damaged , broken , or diseased as soon as you tell apart them . One exclusion is if a citrus tree has been damaged in a freeze . In that subject , do n’t rationalize the impaired limb right aside . Sometimes novel growth will come out from the frost - damaged woodwind in the previous spring . If there is no novel growth by May , hold those freeze - damage branch a lost cause and take them .
5. Make Three-Part Cuts on Big Branches
When cutting branches more than 1 to 1.5 inch in diam , utilize a three - part cutting to ensure you do n’t damage the tree . This precise appendage take the branch off in 3 lowly cuts instead of one large one , reducing the chance of tearing the barque off the body .
6. Remove Suckers
patsy , also know as water sprouts , get from bombastic branches or the luggage compartment . They ’re burnished unripe without any bark . They tend to be thorny and unproductive and will make it hard to reach the fruit in the inside of the tree . Cut them off as soon as they look to invalidate take your citrus tree waste valuable energy on grow them .
Another place where sucker may pop up is below the bud union on the tree diagram , where the citrus fruit variety was grafted onto the rootstalk . rootstalk sprout incline to be thorny and grow inferior yield . Snip them off as soon as they appear .
7. Cut Off Crisscrossing Branches
Remove branches that reach one another or the torso . When the wind spoil , crisscrossing branches can rub against each other , causing wounds that are launching points for diseases and pest infestations .
8. Remove Some Lower Branches
When leave alone in their natural variety , citrus trees are just overgrown shrubs . For the in force crop , they should look a small scraggly ; more leafy limb mean more yield . However , it ’s important to murder some low - hanging branches so you wo n’t have yield - laden branches rest on the ground .
That ’s not the only rationality why you should dress some of the lower branches of your citrus tree . This eccentric of pruning ( skirting ) improve airflow around and below the tree , which is key to prevent fungous disease and pest infestations . It also avail with water distribution and make it easier to get at the tree to keep its base free of weeds , apply fertiliser , and harvest yield .
9. Prune Lightly but Regularly
Doing light snip every class is better than letting your citrus tree diagram get overgrown and then doing a lumbering pruning . Regular maintenance pruning will help your tree diagram produce an one-year harvest , while heavy pruning may keep the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree from fruiting for one to two years .
An one-year luminance pruning consists of thinning cuts to slay the 2 or 3 tallest , most good branches on a tree each twelvemonth . This improves air flow and let more sun get into the canopy while hold back the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree summary and rich .
Never rationalise more than 15 to 20 % of the canopy of a citrus tree diagram in a year . The only exception is to slay dead wood because of halt scathe .
