When to Prune Citrus Trees

Whether it is an orange, nectarine, lemon, lime or grapefruit tree, a citrus tree can serve as the focal point of your landscape and provide you with delicious fruits. To ensure that your citrus tree remains healthy and grows to its full potential, regular maintenance is essential. Part of the maintenance process for a citrus tree is pruning, which requires that you cut or snip away undesirable growth.

Some homeowners mistakenly assume that pruning a citrus tree is similar to pruning a common deciduous tree. However, pruning a citrus tree is actually much less involved. Due to the strength of citrus wood, there is no need to alter the configuration of citrus tree branches to prevent fruit from weighing the branches down and potentially cracking them. In addition, citrus fruits do not require full sun, so you do not have to remove branches to allow more light to reach the center of the tree's canopy. As the University of Arizona notes, "citrus fruit quality is typically just as good or better from a minimally pruned tree as compared with one that is heavily pruned." However, that minimal pruning can still have a significant impact.

You should only prune a citrus tree when the tree shows physical signs of poor health or produces aesthetically displeasing growth. For example, if you see weak, diseased, crisscrossing or dead branches on a citrus tree, remove them with pruning shears. In addition, if sprouts or small branches develop in undesirable locations, such as on the trunk or below the tree's canopy, you can pull them off by hand or shear them off.

The ideal time frame in which you should prune a citrus tree depends on the local climate. In warm, desert-like climates, prune the trees between February and April. However, in areas with cooler climates, delay pruning until late February or March. Avoid pruning citrus trees between May and October, as intense sunlight may damage the trees, causing sunscald or bark rot. Pruning citrus trees between November and January is also not ideal; cold temperatures can potentially cause new growth to suffer freeze damage.

If your tree suffers damage, provide immediate pruning, regardless of the season, to remove dead and injured branches. Also, if a citrus tree suffers from freeze damage, wait until early summer before pruning the damaged growth.

You can prune citrus trees before they bloom. However, even if you do not see any buds on a tree, they may be present at the microscopic level. So, avoid pruning too extensively before citrus trees bloom, as you could accidentally destroy future fruits.