Pruning Citrus: How to do it

Q. I have a dwarf lemon tree that is about 14 years old. It produces plenty of fruit and I keep it relatively small. I trim it in the winter but have never professionally pruned it. Could you recommend to me a source on how to properly prune this tree?

A. I don’t know of a source to help guide you in pruning your citrus tree except the one I wrote and posted below this entry.  It was published by the California State Parks; Citrus State Historic Park. I will try to give you some basic directions but read below for more specifics.  Light pruning can be done anytime but heavier pruning should be done right after harvest. 

            Light pruning would include the removal of small branches that are interfering with growth or causing too much shade inside the canopy. You can judge if there is too much shade in the canopy by looking at the ground beneath a canopy. There is enough light passing through the canopy if you can see speckles of light throughout the shadow of the canopy on the ground. 

            First of all, remove branches that are crossing or any branches growing back toward the center of the tree.  Next, remove branches which are growing straight up or straight down.  Once you have done this, stand back and look at the shadow of the canopy on the ground.  Is light passing through the canopy and causing speckles to form throughout its shadow on the ground?  If this is now happening, perhaps you should stop pruning until after harvest. 

            Citrus does not require much pruning but getting rid of problem branches such as those that are crossing, growing to close together or growing back to rid the center of the tree would be recommended.

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