Corona's Principles of Pruning

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PRUNING FRUIT TREES

a modiﬁed leader as the tree matures. As with apples,

a light annual pruning to remove dead or damaged

wood and suckers and encourage spreading form is

preferable to occasional heavy pruning. Thin spurs

annually to keep the tree from setting too much fruit.

Likewise thin young trees.

Prune plums to an open center. Japanese plums, like

peaches, require lots of pruning. Keep after them ev-

ery year in late winter. European and American plums

need much less pruning; an occasional thinning is all

that is needed.Many plums bear heavily only every oth-

er year. To encourage good annual crops thin young

fruit so that the plums are at least 5 inches apart.

Bare-root citrus fruits trees (grapefruits, lemons,

limes, and oranges) should be pruned at planting time;

containerized ones probably need none. Where occa-

sional frosts occur be sure to wait to prune until any

danger of a freeze is past in the spring. And postpone

fall or early-winter pruning until spring, since it can

make fruit trees more cold sensitive. Citrus trees tend

to grow unevenly, sending out the odd long limb. These

should be pruned back to a good bud. Citrus trees lose

vigor and productivity as they age, but because frigid

winters are not a problem, they can withstand severe

rejuvenation pruning. After such pruning be prepared

to wait two or three years for good fruit production

to resume.