Orange trees are beautiful as decorative plants and excellent for their fruit. They can be grown easily in warm climates or in large pots in cooler climates with access to a greenhouse for the winter. Keeping them pruned serves two purposes: It keeps the trees at a manageable size and ensures maximum fruit production.
When to Prune
The best time to prune an orange tree is when it has finished bearing fruit. Typically, this is in the late summer or early autumn. In warm climates where the tree can produce two cycles of fruit in a year, the time is a little more flexible.
Why Prune?
Pruning offers a number of benefits to the tree. The tree is smaller after pruning, making it easier to harvest and move, if necessary. Lighter branches reduce damage caused by heavy fruit or high winds. Pruning encourages growth, which in turn encourages fruit production. Fewer branches mean more energy can be devoted to each branch, producing better fruit. Having fewer, lighter branches reduces the need to prop and support heavy branches before harvest.
Pruning Patterns
The typical pattern for pruning an orange tree is to thin out the high, upper branches. This new growth is where the majority of blossoms and fruit appear each year. Leaving too much of it in will result in smaller fruit that ripens slowly, making a sub-par harvest.
Young trees need less pruning than older, mature trees; young trees need more energy to establish while mature trees can dedicate more energy to fruit. For old, mature trees with relatively little past pruning, gardeners can remove whole limbs from the top and center of the tree, reducing the size and allowing more sunlight to reach the inner areas of the tree. This makes the tree shape resemble a vase or V.
How to Prune Safely
Pruning can be dangerous to a tree. It opens a wound in the bark, which allows exterior elements to enter. Rot and tree infections are common with poorly pruned trees, but such problems can occur even in healthy trees. For pruning that will cause the least amount of damage, gardeners can follow these tips:
- Do not prune parallel to the main branch in a flush cut. This opens a larger wound than is necessary. Excess damage on this scale can kill a tree.
- Do not prune too far away from where a smaller branch joins the larger. This leaves a stub that can gather moisture and induce rot.
- Do not prune from the top down or the bottom up. The weight of the branch can crack healthy wood or strip bark from the remaining branch, opening a large wound and causing infection that can easily kill a tree.
The proper way to prune a branch is to make a small cut one third to one half of the way through the branch, about 1 to 2 inches from where the branch joins the trunk, from the bottom up. This prevents bark stripping if the branch falls. Then, half an inch or so further out from that cut, finish the cut from the top down. This prevents cracking the wood.
About Wound Dressings
Wound dressings are chemicals designed to be applied to the stub of a branch after it has been cut. The idea is that these chemicals prevent fungal infections and rot in the open wound. Some gardeners prefer to use them, but wound dressings are not necessary for properly pruned branch stubs. There is little evidence to suggest that wound dressing chemicals work better than the natural chemicals in the tree itself. Pruning a branch properly reduces the risk of rot or infection, and a healthy tree can handle the rest.
Photo courtesy of Food Source Information