How do I a prune a lime tree? Where do I start to prune a lime tree? I get it, growing limes can be as challenging as it is satisfying. Growing lime trees is fun; maintaining them is well worth all the extra effort.
Be it indoors or outdoors, on land or in a container, whichever. Limes are a delightful citrus tree to grow. However it is crucial to prune limes regularly, at least once and no more than twice a year.
Because pruning limes is central and vital for a bountiful lime fruit harvest, it is crucial that every gardener knows how to prune a lime tree.
However, if you don’t know or have little information on how to prune a lime tree, don’t panic. Read on to find out everything you require to know how to prune a lime tree; thank me later.
What are lime trees?
Limes are a type of citrus, green and Vitamin C rich fruits. Limes are often compared to lemons, and I would understand why because they have the same value as lemons.
Lime trees are somewhat easy to grow and maintain. However, even if they weren’t, the freshness of the limes makes all the pain you undertake to grow them worthwhile.
Summertime is around the corner. It’s the season for limes and citrus themed cocktail parties. Limes are very popular in South America but have recently spread the world over. For a good reason.
Not only do limes smell heavenly, but also they are a key part of many orient cuisines, chutneys, pies, and several beloved cocktails. We all love anything exotic, don’t we?
If growing limes is something you would want to venture in, I got you. Here is all you have ever wanted to know about how to prune a lime tree.
What is pruning
In the most basic sense, pruning is the trimming of the branches of a plant to promote a healthier and bigger yield of the remaining parts left on the tree.
The pruning process involves removing dead wood, crisscrossing limbs, and suckers. Gardeners pruning their lime trees use sharp, sanitized pruning shears for small branches and curved tree saws for larger branches.
Old, dead, diseases, tangled and crisscrossed branches should be cut to the base to promote healthy lime tree growth.
Applying pruning paint may be an ancient practice. However, despite its ancient roots, it is still necessary to protect the lime trees from sunburn, pests, and disease-causing pathogens. You only need to make sure that you use organic and tar-free white-wash.
Lime trees are strong and unlikely to break under the weight of lime fruits. So, pruning a lime tree will not typically improve the quality of limes. Limes will grow everywhere on the tree, not just in sunny areas. It isn’t necessary to prune to let in sunlight.
Although pruning lime trees isn’t generally required for proper care of lime trees, there are several good reasons to do so. Pruning lime trees helps to improve airflow, reduce disease, strengthen limbs, and makes it easier to harvest fruits.
Why should you prune a lime tree?
I know that pruning may be heartbreaking, especially when you have to do away with young limes. The thing is that it is a necessary evil; it’s for the greater good. So don’t be hesitant to grab your pruning shears so that you can enjoy the following benefits.
1. For general plant health
Having too much foliage will reduce the plant’s energy, which would have otherwise gone into making fruits, which are the yield.
Also, sometimes for lime trees, when you do not prune, end up with a plant structure, which is the same size from top to bottom. It is going to encourage the breaking of branches now and then.
A healthy lime tree is supposed to have a sturdy and strong stem bigger than the above foliage, flowers, and fruit system so that the stem can hold the above structure of the shoot system.
Pruning will ensure that this balance is maintained since you remove 5-10 % oh the branches each time you prune.
2. For easier harvesting of fruit
Pruning reduces the density of the branches and makes it easier to see the fruits. In the end, it makes a lot easier to harvest the limes.
3. For better sunlight penetration and aeration
Sunlight is beneficial, but too much of it could burn the plant. So there has to be a balance between the sunlight penetrating the plants. To prevent sunburn, the gardener must white-wash the exposed branches after thinning the branches for sunlight penetration.
Aeration is good for any plant. Not only does it ensure that the plants get the carbon dioxide that they need for photosynthesis, but also it is good for fighting off pests.
4. To rejuvenate growth
Pruning a plant exacts hormonal stress at the point of cutting, making the plant respond by growing. Even though plant pruning is a good thing, there’s such a thing as too much. So a gardener must take care, not to over prune.
When the plant is over pruned, the plant’s response is to grow as many leaves as to cover up the laced canopy, at the expense of flowering and fruiting. So this may delay the process of fruiting.
However, for old and unproductive lime trees, over-pruning may be the answer. Old trees have so many dead woody branches, tangled and crisscrossing branches, and diseased branches at times. All of which is a disservice to the lime tree.
Deadwood branches take up space where new and vibrant branches could sprout, tangled, and crisscrossing branches rub on the bark, which may expose the lime tree’s bark to rodents and pathogens. In such a case, it is best to prune the ‘skeleton’ and, in extreme cases, to a tree stump.
5. For aesthetics
You can control the direction of growth by pruning, which means that you can control a tree’s resultant shape by pruning.
The general desired shape is similar to an umbrella. You can make your lime trees grow in the most pleasing shape to you by pruning.
When to prune a lime tree
The best time to prune depends on which climatic zone that you live in. The general rule is that you want to avoid pruning in winter and summer.
The best time to prune lime trees is early spring or late summer or anytime before blooming. Prune lime trees every year or two, which will help keep them from becoming too large.
You may also prune lime trees in areas with mild winters between February and April. If you live in an area with cooler winters, wait until late February or March.
However, never prune lime trees between May through mid-October because it can allow intense sunlight to scald exposed branches and trunks. As mentioned above, avoid pruning winter.
The only exception to the rules mentioned above is when you have diseased branches and waiting further could result in further spread of infection. In that case, prune right away.
If it’s during summer, don’t get to white-wash the exposed bark. It isn’t much you can do to counter the effects of winter if you must prune a diseased branch during winter. You have to wait for the frost to pass and prune off the frostbite.
Steps of pruning a lime tree
Weak branches, deadwood, and small growths near the trunk base, It’s a tell-tale sign that you need to get your pruning shears ready.
Please remember not to prune during summer or winter. Lime trees are very sensitive and can be damaged by sunburn in summer or frost from winter.
Look below for the steps to take to prune lime trees.
1. Planning
The first step to pruning is to plan. You don’t have to have a written plan, but knowing which branches to remove and deciding how much to prune beforehand will help you avoid over-pruning and lacing the tree.
2. Pruning
After making a plan and sharpening your pruning shears, start cutting the branches at the collar. It would help if you also remembered to cut the brunches at 45-degree angles.
When you are pruning, it is also a good idea to prune the fruits. Say, for example, they are 3 limes at the same point, it is wiser to remove one so that the remaining two can grow bigger and better.
Also, while you’re at pruning, do not forget to remove any suckers or water shoots. Suckers usually appear at the base of the trunk. It is specifically problematic because they pick up energy that would otherwise have been used for the real fruit.
Normally limes are grafted, so suckers that appear below the grafting union are different and sometimes inedible. As such, you don’t need to let them grow.
On the other hand, water shoots are fast growths that appear over-pruning or storm damage, and they tend to grow vertically. Water sprouts are weak and could damage the trunk by exposing it to disease when they break off.
So you’re better off removing suckers and water sprouts as you prune.
Other things to do when you prune a lime tree
3. Skirting
Sometimes some limbs of branches may grow in a way that they hang too close to the ground. It is an issue because it makes the plants susceptible to pests and other infections that could be at the ground.
You might want to skirt mature trees to a level at least 75 cm above the ground. It prevents these branches from sagging given law when fruits develop.
4. Topping
Sometimes, you may want to bring down the tree’s height to particular heights when you prune. It is not only aesthetic but also helps with harvesting if the fruits are within reach.
5. Bending
Sometimes you don’t even have to prune for younger trees to create the desired shape and fill the canopy. Sometimes it is wise for you to bend some of the branches into the shape you desire them to grow.
You can bend a branch by staking it and using a string to hold it in the direction that you want it to bend. After a while, the branch starts to grow in the direction it was bent. It is important, though, not to tie the string on the branch but the staking stick.
6. Know when to stop
Now that you have finished the processes of pruning, it is important to know when to stop. As earlier mentioned, over-pruning does nobody any good but, on the other hand, could harm the tree.
Types of pruning cuts used to prune a lime tree
1. Heading cuts
You can make heading cuts to reduce a lime tree’s height by cutting lateral branches and removing terminal buds.
Don’t use heading cuts on branches over a year old because if you do, you may stimulate the growth of water sprouts and suckers. As mentioned above, water sprouts and suckers are not good news for your lime tree.
Heading cuts also lace older trees and exposes large areas of bare wood to disease and insects. Therefore you must use heading types when only young lime trees.
2. Thinning cuts
Thinning cuts remove selected branches at their base or attachment when you prune a branch back to another branch or prune a branch from the trunk.
The advantages of thinning include better aeration, improved sunlight penetration, and reduced wind resistance.
Never forget that whenever removing limbs greater than 1 inch in thickness, use the ‘three-cut method’ to avoid tearing bark.
The three-cut pruning method
- Place the first, about 12 inches from the trunk, cut only halfway through the branch from the underside.
- Place Second, about 1 inch past the first cut, cut through the limb from the top side. The limb’s weight will cause it to break between the two cuts.
- Make the third and final cut outside the branch collar. Use a handsaw to provide greater control.
Tips for pruning a baby lime tree (less than a year old)
- Don’t allow baby limes to bear fruit until they’re older. Baby limes won’t give good quality and big fruit. So, don’t feel bad about pruning every time you see flowers.
- Remove suckers and water sprouts.
Tips for pruning a young lime tree (1-2 years old)
- Prune young limes as often as needed to shape their structural framework.
- Remember to thin fruits.
- Whenever you can consider bending instead of pruning
Tips for pruning a mature lime tree (over 2 years old)
- For mature lime trees, the best time to prune is after every harvest once or twice a year.
- For the older and unproductive, do the skeleton prune, and then don’t forget to paint the bark with white-wash.
When pruning trees, make the final cut just beyond the branch collar and branch bark ridge.
How to prune a lime tree Dos
1. Sharpen your shears and loppers before pruning
Not only does using sharp tools make your pruning easier, but also it causes that least damage to the plant tissues. Always use sharp shears to prune.
2. Remove dead, damaged, and disease branches to the base of the tree.
Always remove damaged or diseased branches as soon as you see them. If you do not remove damaged branches when they eventually fall off, they could damage the tree trunk. Diseased branches could spread the disease to the rest of the tree.
3. Disinfect Shears
It would be best if you remembered to disinfect the tools you are using as soon as you move from one tree to another tree. Sometimes if you suspect that a branch was diseased, it is even better to disinfect after pruning one branch before you go to the next.
If left disinfected, tools and your hands could be disease and pest transferring mechanisms from one tree to another.
So always sanitize your hands and disinfect the tools you use.
4. Thin out weak crisscrossed and Tangled branches to the base.
Thin crisscrossed and tangled branches are the weakest branches of a tree, and with time they are going to break. It is very important that when you prune such branches, you do so from the trunk base.
This way, you eliminate the damage that these branches could have caused when they broke off.
5. Thin out leggy branches
Sometimes some branches are way outside the canopy of the tree. Leggy bunches may not be of any harm to the plant, but they could block pathways. Remove them whenever you can.
How to prune a lime tree Don’ts
1. Prune during winter or summer.
Lime trees are very sensitive. Pruning during winter foreclose to winter will risk the new growth catching frostbite. Still, pruning during summer will risk exposing the tree bark to sunburn. Both of these extreme mean death lime trees.
So, it’s expedient to schedule pruning in early spring or late fall.
2. Cut yourself
Pruning involves the use of very sharp tools, so you need to be careful not to cut yourself. Chainsaws and shears could do you unimaginable harm should you mistake your thumb for the tree.
3. Prune more than 20% of the branches.
I know that for so many people who do lime farming as a hobby, you might enjoy pruning a little more than you should and end up over-pruning. It is very important to step aside after every 15 minutes of pruning to assess your work.
Over pruning is a very serious challenge and could lace (open) the tree canopy leading to sunburn, especially if you live in a very hot climate.
Unless you’re doing the Skeleton prune, you must remove no less than 20% of the branches. But even if you were doing The Skeleton prune, you still need to white-wash after pruning to avoid sunburn to the lime tree trunk.
The summary for how to prune a lime tree
1. Lime trees are strong and can still do without pruning. However pruning a lime tree will give you benefits like improved air circulation, sunlight penetration and reduces pest and disease infestation.
2. Never prune lime trees close to or during summer or winter unless you notice a disease branch which cannot wait until the winter frost or summer heat passes.
3. For pruning thin branches use disinfected sharp pruning shears but be careful not to cut yourself and for thick branches use curved saws for pruning.
4. Please do not over prune the lime trees but don’t forego pruning altogether.
5. If you forget everything else, remember that a pruned lime tree is a happy tree.