We moved into this house where we've got a mature Valencia orange tree, we've got more oranges than we can manage, it's great everyone who visits us or, we visit them gets a gift bag. This tree sits in the corner of the yard, stands about 15-feet tall and its canopy is about 10-12 feet out. The issue is the former owners did zero maintenance and as I've learned to develop my green-thumb, I discover that three of the trunks are rootstock suckers. One trunk is about 2" in diameter, the second is about 3" and the largest is about 4" in diameter; all three are covered in large war-club worthy spikes.

Everything I've read says, go ahead and remove them ASAP regardless of time of year, however those are for much smaller limbs. Given how large these three suckers are, I'm afraid of infection and shock to the tree. When removing, should I cut all three at the same time or, space out the time between removals? The two largest ones I'm concerned about infection, standard tree limb removable I know asphalt is used to seal the end to prevent infections from setting in and provide protection, however with a fruit tree after removal, is there a special sealant or cover to use?

I was just doing some reading on the sealant and while it was thought to be the way to go in the past, in more recent years people decided it wasn't the best idea. I only learned this AFTER I bought some of course. Turned out I didn't do what I thought I needed it for anyway, but I'd look into it farther yourself.

I have a few apple tree up north, and the little they've been pruned has NEVER been at the right time. At least not in my lifetime. Mostly a matter of "if not now, who knows when. Better now than never.", neglect has been their biggest enemy and killed most of them. I'm trying to save what's left.

With Apple & similar fruit trees in the Midwest, the traditional time to prune is late Winter to early spring. Part is because it’s easier to see branch structure with no leaves.

I have fruit trees and books on growing. There really is no one time that one should prune. Lite ongoing pruning is no biggie. It could be stressful if one did a heavy prune with a neglected tree.

One can start with broken, crossed branches, or those that are rubbing each other. The idea is to open things up, limit vertical growth.

The Japanese are known for precise, ongoing pruning with fruit trees of all types.

I would spend the $ to have a professional do it the first time and learn from them what's needed in the future.

quote:

Originally posted by corsair:
The two largest ones I'm concerned about infection, standard tree limb removable I know asphalt is used to seal the end to prevent infections from setting in and provide protection, however with a fruit tree after removal, is there a special sealant or cover to use?

Well, avocados are fruit (though not citrus), and years ago when the approach was to just let the trees grow, then stump them when they got too big, one sealed with Henry’s roofing tar, then covered with a white paper bag to reduce sun absorption.

Now folks prune avocado trees before they get too big to pick, and really don’t treat the cuts. The rule has always been to remove any and all suckers ASAP, ie when you see them.

Personally, I’d remove all the suckers now, then look at doing any pruning that you want to do this winter when the tree is less active.

As bendable has said, Call the man. The County agent is another option. Tree paint or asphalt is frequently not needed. Just make the cuts clean.

Three things I know about pruning fruit trees -

- Wintertime is best
- Don't take more than 1/3 of the tree
- Cut it a foot or so long first, planning on some tearing. Then trim it to the correct length when there's no weight on the branch.

That's all I've got.

quote:

Originally posted by whanson_wi:
Three things I know about pruning fruit trees -

- Wintertime is best
- Don't take more than 1/3 of the tree
- Cut it a foot or so long first, planning on some tearing. Then trim it to the correct length when there's no weight on the branch.

That's all I've got.

That’s all good advice. As far as how to cut off limbs, I’ll expand a bit on the third point. Do make your cut a little long, but cut up from underneath a small amount (up to a third of the diameter, but not enough for the limb to sag and bind on the saw blade) 2-3” inboard from where you’re going to cut the limb off (pre-cleanup cut). Then cut down from the top of the limb 2-3” outboard of that undercut. At some point during this cut, the limb will likely give up and break or split. Without the undercut, it can peel a piece of the bottom of the limb back to the trunk and even peel a section of the trunk. The undercut prevents that split/peel issue and leaves you with a short stub with minimal weight on it to cut off making a nice, clean, “pretty” cut.

Thanks for the advice, spoke to the 'local expert' at the nursery. Their advice was trim the smallest of the three now, then wait until things cool down and winter dormancy kicks-in before cutting-off the other two.

Undercuts for sure, got pretty good on pruning back the shitty Bradford Pear tree in the front yard last Winter.

quote:

Originally posted by urbanwarrior238:
I would spend the $ to have a professional do it the first time and learn from them what's needed in the future.

This is just what I was going to say.

Best of luck!