Long before the current pandemic hit us, I was drinking green tea with lemon slices every day. Sometimes I also add some ginger when I have time. You may have seen posts about growing lemon trees from seeds or growing lemon trees indoors. So, in today’s article we will learn how to prune a lemon tree.
Lemon trees require slightly different pruning techniques than other trees such as apple, peach, or apricot trees. Regardless, you need to know exactly why you are pruning your tree in the first place. Do you want to keep it from getting out of hand, maybe eliminate some of the healthy growth, or keep it from getting too big? Still, the way to prune container lemon trees is different than for lemon trees grown outside the orchard.
Here’s What You’ll Need:
- pruning shears
- lemon trees
- tree paint
- chainsaw (optional)
Before you start pruning a lemon tree, it’s important to know when to prune it. Obviously, the best time is either after harvest or after bloom. When pruning, it is best to start from the bottom up. No stumps should be left, and all cuts should be flush with the stem or branch. The final step after pruning the tree is to paint the trunk with tree paint.
How to Prune a Lemon Tree Growing in a Container
Unless you’re a home gardener and live in an unusually mild and dry climate (USDA hardiness zones 10 through 13), chances are you’ll be bringing lemon trees indoors in containers over the winter.
If your lemon tree has been growing in a container for three years or more, chances are some of your branches will look like dead wood, although they will eventually develop some healthy foliage. Deadwood is a sign that you need to prune something, but it’s also a sign that you’ve done a lot of things right.
Lemons are picky eaters. They like their roots to be moist but not soggy. If you followed all of our instructions for growing a lemon tree, you have given it a container, preferably a clay pot, small enough to keep its roots from getting soggy, but large enough to support it growing to about a 1 in height. 20 m support.
If you have live buds on your branches but just starting to sprout, it’s like your lemon tree is saying to you, “If you put me in a big enough pot, I’ll grow up to 25 feet.” Tall, I can safely leave a few leaves exposed. “However, if you want your lemon tree to be manageable, you need to mulch it so that it does not exceed 4 to 5 feet in height.
The horticultural term for this disease is late blight or late blight. Both terms have the same meaning. Rot occurs when a tree of any kind grows faster than its roots can support.
Root pressure on container grown lemon trees doesn’t always cause sagging.
Sometimes a lemon tree has no dead wood, but it won’t produce lemons. It may also be a sign that you need to mulch the tree. If you grow a lemon tree that is too tall in a container, it may have enough energy to produce leaves but not enough energy to produce fruit.
How to Top a Container-Grown Lemon Tree
Pruning lemon trees is done branch by branch. You don’t just pick up an electric hedge trimmer and snip off the tip.
Look at the top branches of the lemon tree. Look for branches that have new growth at the tip but lack leaves between the free end of the branch and where it attaches to the trunk.
You may find that there are some places on the branches where the new leaves have fallen off. The branches may still be green, but all the leaves are gone. If you notice that healthy leaves are getting smaller at the ends of branches that are missing leaves, or your green branches are leafless, or older branches look dead, then your branch is dying.
Also, don’t leave green branches with only leaves at the end. A green branch that has lost most of its leaves is also a weakened branch.
Most of the dying branches are at the top of the tree, or as high as the lemon tree has the resources to grow roots.
If your potted lemon tree is 5 to 6 feet tall, you will usually need to remove about 25 percent of the branches. However, don’t remove branches that are green and full of leaves unless your tree has grown too large for the space you have reserved.
And don’t remove flowering branches! Flowers is a new fruit area. However, any areas of bark should be inspected for removal.
