What’s the best way to prune citrus?

There’s a belief among some home gardeners that you need to open up the centre of the tree when pruning citrus, much like you would a deciduous fruit, such as a plum, peach, apple or pear. The idea behind this is that an open centre allows sunlight to penetrate the canopy, promoting flower and fruit development on inner branches. It also encourages airflow through the canopy, reducing the incidence of disease. 

 While this is good practice for many deciduous fruit trees, it’s not necessary when pruning citrus trees and other evergreens, and can do more harm than good. Much like shrubs, citrus trees naturally develop a dense closed canopy, and they prefer it that way. All the flowers and fruit form on the ends of the branches, so it pays to keep as much of the outer canopy intact as possible. 

 Another problem occurs when you cut into the centre of a citrus tree and expose the inner branches to direct sunlight. These branches have spent most of their time being shaded by lush foliage, so you run the risk of them being affected by sunburn. This can cause the bark to split and peel, allowing harmful disease organisms to enter and cause infection and possible dieback. 

Unlike many other fruit trees, you don’t need to prune citrus to produce more or higher quality fruit, but it does pay to prune them annually to maintain their size. For Australian gardens, the best time to prune citrus trees is late winter to spring. 

How to prune citrus trees 

Don’t give your citrus trees an all-over haircut or you’ll remove all the flowering and fruiting sites, meaning no citrus fruit next year. Instead, cut back a few of the longest branches, removing no more than 20 percent of the canopy in total. You’ll keep your tree contained and enjoy a harvest every year.

For more citrus pruning tips from Phil Dudman, check out this article.

Photo by Jessie Prince