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How to Prune a Potted Lemon Tree
How to Prune a Potted Lemon Tree. Lemon trees (Citrus limon) do well as potted plants when given proper care, including winter protection, water and pruning. Grow them outdoors in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11 and indoors in cooler climates. Lemon trees need minimal pruning to maintain their shape and...
Lemon trees (Citrus limon) do well as potted plants when given proper care, including winter protection, water and pruning. Grow them outdoors in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11 and indoors in cooler climates. Lemon trees need minimal pruning to maintain their shape and production. The pruning required keeps plants strong by removing dead, diseased or unhealthy growth. The best time to prune is spring before new growth emerges but after any chance of frost or freeze.
Things You'll Need
Bleach
Handheld pruners
Loppers
Pruning saw
Clean pruning tool blades with a solution of 1 part water to 9 parts bleach. Rinse the blades and allow them to air dry or dry with a clean, lint-free cloth. Cleaning the tool blades prevents the spread of disease to your potted lemon tree.
Check the lemon tree for any broken, damaged or dead limbs. Remove these limbs, making the final cut near their base leaving the ridge or collar. Make your cuts as cleanly as possible, avoiding nicks in the delicate bark around the site. Make your pruning cuts using a three-cut system. Use the pruners to make the first cut 10 inches away from its emergence site. Cut halfway through the branch on its underside. Finish the cut from above about 1 inch farther up the branch, leaving a 10-inch branch section on the tree. Remove this section last with one cut.
Prune off any suckers, watersprouts and downward-growing branches. Suckers grow straight up and emerge from the base of the tree. Watersprouts are long, rapidly growing shoots that emerge in the canopy. Remove them at their base.
Prune any spindly, thin or crowded branches. This helps maintain the shape of the tree while allowing light to access the inner branches.
Tips & Warnings
Use handheld pruners on branches 1 inch or less in diameter, which will be most branches on a potted tree. Choose loppers for branches up to 2 inches. Use a pruning saw on anything larger. Only use tools with sharp blades to ensure a clean cut.
Clean pruners between each lemon tree if you prune more than one at a time.
