Meyers Lemon Tree Needs Some Training

Q. I have a Meyers lemon tree that needs pruning. How do you suggest I should proceed?

A. Older citrus, including Myers lemon, needs little pruning once it’s over about four or five years old, if it’s been trained properly. When young, it should be trained to grow into a tree.

If your Meyers lemon looks more like a shrub than a tree, then prune it to one central trunk.

            The same structure used for training other fruit trees is applied to citrus; the central trunk has limbs removed from its trunk or multiple trunks up to about knee height. Limbs are removed from the trunk so that heavy fruit still attached to the remaining limbs doesn’t wind up sitting on the ground. Fruit touching the ground is more likely to spoil.

            While it’s still young, develop the main scaffold limbs that support new growth and fruit. These scaffold limbs should grow from the trunk or trunks “like spokes on a wheel”. Make sure these major limbs have at least 6 inches between them, originate in a spiral pattern from the trunk, and they are not growing on top of one another. When limbs grow on top of one another then shading and light distribution throughout the canopy is a problem.

            I always start inspecting the trees for good limb distribution at the bottom, usually on my hands and knees. First, I inspect the trunk up to my knees and make sure it’s “clean”. Next, I inspect the limb structure from my knees to my waist and make sure these scaffold limbs are well distributed. I fix any stems that are crossing over each other, broken, or creating too much shade.

If the tree is too tall, I remove upright branches that contribute to its height. These pruning cuts are made inside the canopy at “crotches” where two or more limbs come together.

Finally, I inspect the tree up to its top, looking for the same types of problems as before. After the structure of the tree is inspected, I then fix any problems with light distribution inside the canopy. After the fourth or fifth year, little pruning of citrus is needed.