I got one of those key lime trees as a gift. It's in a small planter. The
instructions say to prune it to make it bushier if I want. However, I don't
know what to prune. It's about 9 inches tall. There is one branch going off
the side. There are leaves all the way up the "Y" split.

Should I trim back the tall part? If so, how much? If not, then when do I
prune and where?

Much obliged for the feedback.

Hi Jim,
I would not do any heavy pruning on such a young tree. You can do it in
stages from year to year. You can prune in the Spring, as other times would
encourage the
tree to put out more growth. If you want a lower more spread out tree, reduce
the height by cutting back on the main tall (leader) branch.

Sherwin Dubren

Jim Carr wrote:

I got one of those key lime trees as a gift. It's in a small planter. The
instructions say to prune it to make it bushier if I want. However, I don't
know what to prune. It's about 9 inches tall. There is one branch going off
the side. There are leaves all the way up the "Y" split.

Should I trim back the tall part? If so, how much? If not, then when do I
prune and where?

Much obliged for the feedback.

Jim Carr wrote:

I got one of those key lime trees as a gift. It's in a small planter. The
instructions say to prune it to make it bushier if I want. However, I don't
know what to prune. It's about 9 inches tall. There is one branch going off
the side. There are leaves all the way up the "Y" split.

Should I trim back the tall part? If so, how much? If not, then when do I
prune and where?

Much obliged for the feedback.

A plant that size should not be pruned. You may pinch out the tips
of the branches to make them bushy. However, I would wait until it
is about 2 feet tall.

In the meantime, you should consider repotting it into a large
container. Even dwarf citrus should be in containers at least 16
inches in diameter and equally deep.

See my http://www.rossde.com/garden/dwarf_citrus.html.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

Hi Jim,
I would not do any heavy pruning on such a young tree. You can do it in
stages from year to year. You can prune in the Spring, as other times would
encourage the
tree to put out more growth. If you want a lower more spread out tree, reduce
the height by cutting back on the main tall (leader) branch.

Sherwin Dubren

Jim Carr wrote:

I got one of those key lime trees as a gift. It's in a small planter. The
instructions say to prune it to make it bushier if I want. However, I don't
know what to prune. It's about 9 inches tall. There is one branch going off
the side. There are leaves all the way up the "Y" split.

Should I trim back the tall part? If so, how much? If not, then when do I
prune and where?

Much obliged for the feedback.