One of the most important springtime activities on the orchard is pruning. We typically prune during March and April, when there is no risk of frost to harm the newly-pruned trees. However, if spring is approaching quickly and the temperatures are warming, we can prune as early as mid-February.
All the trees – the avocados, lemons, and Moringa – get pruned. Avocados in general require less pruning so most of the time we simply skirt the trees and cut out dead/dying branches. “Skirting” is a specific type of pruning that essentially involves removing dead branches that touch the ground or are very low on the tree. This allows better air movement from the base of the tree and prevents low-hanging fruit from going bad. The key to avocado pruning is the idea of “less is more”. It is important to only remove dead/dying branches as over-pruning any avocado tree can lead to sunburn damage and less fruit production. Avocados naturally grow irregularly, so we try not to prune the avocados into tall, straight trees but instead just let them grow naturally (within limits, of course).
Lemons, on the other hand, can be high-maintenance when it comes to pruning. Lemon pruning is similar to avocados in that “less is more” – we remove dead/dying branches and clear out the main scaffold branches which can get overcrowded. However, the extra step in lemon pruning comes from suckers or watersprouts – tough shoots that can grow from the base of the tree or (less commonly) the branches. These suckers “suck out” the nutrients, water, and sunlight from regular branches and prevent fruit production. As our farm manager once called them, suckers can be compared to leeches that suck out all the energy of a tree. We can tell if a sucker is growing on our tree by looking for a distinct smooth bark branch with large thorns and no fruit production. They are a lot stronger than they look so definitely use those muscles when cutting out a sucker!
Thankfully, our Moringas do not have anything like suckers to prune into control. However, they do have a unique problem: they can become extremely tall. We learned that lesson the hard way during our first year growing Moringa when we decided not to prune (the trees seemed decently sized and had no crossing or overcrowded branches). Imagine our surprise when, in the middle of the harvesting season, all the Moringa pods were 10+ feet in the air. It quickly became a running joke that my place as the tallest child (at 5’10) had been taken over! Since Moringa trees can grow upwards of 18 feet in just 6 months, we have to regularly prune tall branches to harvest fruit and prevent the pods from becoming sunburnt or dried. Keeping the Moringa trees pruned to ~8 feet allows us to pick the pods safely and prevents excess plant energy toward upward growth rather than fruit production. Another benefit of pruning the Moringa trees can be seen during the Santa Ana Winds – strong bursts of winds that can go up to 100 mph. During the Santa Anas, mature but un-pruned Moringa trees can quickly become uprooted and die. While we have started staking these trees, keeping the Moringa trees pruned to a reasonable height prevents most damage.
On the Healthy Acres farm, pruning is an important and regular activity that keeps our trees healthy. As long as you remember the key rule “less is more,” pruning your lemons and avocados can be easy and fun. Add your pruning tricks and tips under the Comments section or Contact Us page!
