Fruits

Do you want to know how to prune a lime tree so it can grow healthily? If so, then you better keep on reading as I teach you the steps on pruning a lime tree. I have learned these steps from my grandfather who has grown a lot of lime trees in his garden.

There are several reasons why you should prune a lime tree. Pruning helps minimize disease, enhance airflow, strengthen limbs, and make it simpler to harvest the lime fruits. If you’re ready to learn, check the items you’ll need and the steps below.

What You’ll Need

Pruning Shears Or Hand Pruner

You’ll need a pair of sharp pruning shears to remove branches. This gardening tool also comes in handy when you’ll be shaping the remaining limbs of the lime tree.

There are actually many types of pruning shears: bypass, anvil, and ratchet. I prefer to use the bypass pruners because they’re the easiest to use and provides the cleanest cut. For comfort, look for an ergonomic design which includes angled blades and soft-grip handles. Look for blades made of hardened or carbon steel if you want the pruner to last longer.

Gloves

Pruning involves the abrasive pulling of sprouts and handling of thick branches. For this reason, you need gloves to protect your hands from accidental cuts and bruises. The ideal gloves should be durable enough to protect your from abrasive sprouts but flexible enough to fulfill the job.

Avoid using those gloves with stiff, rubbing seams because they can cause blisters. I’ve actually used a stiff one and I never looked back after what happened to my hands.

Ethanol Or Isopropyl Alcohol

The ethanol or isopropyl alcohol will be used to sterilize your gardening equipment before and after use. The reason behind this process is to kill any bacteria and virus that might spread disease to the lime tree. The best solution should contain at least 70% of alcohol.

Chlorine Bleach + Water

If you don’t have any rubbing alcohol available in your home, you can use chlorine bleach instead. Chlorine bleach is affordable and simple to find. However, it can be corrosive. To use this alternative disinfecting solution, mix one part chlorine bleach and nine parts water.

Curved Tree Saw (Optional)

You might need a curved tree saw if you want to remove large branches. Unlike pruning shears, a curved tree saw has more power to cut thick branches. Also, this type of tree saw comes in handy if you want to cut a limb of a lime tree that’s suffering from a disease. Many curved tree saw handle branches about 1-3 inches in diameter.

Step-By-Step Instructions

Select The Particular Day For Pruning The Lime Tree

It is very important to prune a lime tree at the right time every year. You should do this before the blooms emerge on the tree. This particular day can be between February to April.

It’s discouraged to do the pruning after May because opening up the canopy can expose the branches to cruel sunlight. The sun’s intensity can cause the branches to get bark rot or sunscald. Likewise, November to January is a bad time to prune and even to remove sprouts because the regrowth of sprout may still be damaged by the cold weather.

Inspect Your Lime Tree And Equipment Carefully

Examine your lime tree for any dead or unhealthy branches. Check the lower part of the trunk for suckers, which are green and bereft of bark. Also, look for any branches that cross through the center of the tree.

For your equipment (pruning shears and curved tree saw), check if they’re still sharp. If not, sharpen them before starting to prune your lime tree.

Don’t forget to sterilize your equipment by soaking or wiping them with rubbing alcohol. You can also soak your equipment with the chlorine bleach and water solution for 30 minutes, then rinse afterward to prevent corrosion.

Remove Suckers And Branches

Wear your gloves and remove suckers that may be growing from the lime tree. Do this either by hand or pruning shears. Don’t forget to remove any branches that extend across the center of the tree.

The removal of suckers and crossing branches will allow your tree to get more sunlight and enhanced air circulation. Remove all weak or diseased branches. Use your pruning shears for smaller branches and only use a curved tree saw for the larger branches.

When you prune a large branch, make three cuts to make a clean cut that will heal fast. The first cut should be 10-12 inches away from your final cut. The second cut should be made a few inches up from your initial cut. The third cut should be made flush with the collar to remove the branch stub.

Pro Tips

Never do all the pruning in the same year because it can lose the complete lime tree form. It would be best if you wait until the next season to prune more. As possible, never remove more than 15% of the total suckers.

Before your prune the lime tree, pick off any ripe fruits that remain on the tree. Keep the lime tree thicker at the bottom and thin on top. Remove middle branches to open it up.

Final Thought

Did you enjoy learning how to prune a lime tree? Pruning your own lime tree can be satisfying especially if you can see the positive results. Keep in mind that you also need to provide proper care because pruning alone won’t provide a good production of fruits.

If you have tried pruning a lime tree or have some questions in mind, tell us in the comment section. Please share this article with your friends if you like it.

Out of the many fruits that we can eat, one of the most nutritious is blackberries. This is because these are rich in Vitamin C and fibers, which is a good thing if you want to have a stronger and fit body. What's also great about it is that it's low in calories which are why you won't get fat in eating it regularly.

With this, it makes perfect sense for you to plant blackberries in your garden or backyard. However, you need to transplant it later on and transfer it to another place to further help it grow. In this article, we're going to teach you how to transplant blackberries the right way.

Things You Need To Prepare

1. Trowel or Shovel

The first thing you need to prepare is a trowel. If you don't have one, any shovel will do. However, it would be best if you have a shovel that is not too big. Small shovels that have a short handle is the one which is highly recommended.

See to it that the head is durable and that it has a pointed shape at the tip of its head. This will make the transplanting work easier because of the easy digging and carrying of soil. In choosing one, it’s also best if you see to it that it has soft and comfortable handles because you’ll never know how long it will take you in transplanting your blackberries.

2. Bowl and Damp Newspapers

Prepare a bucket or any bowl. You also need to have damp newspapers. You’re going to use this as the temporary container of the uprooted blackberry plant. This will serve as the plant’s temporary shelter. This is the reason why you need to see to it that it is clean, free of any unnecessary substance or things which might cause harm to the exposed plant. A bucket or bowl around 1 to 2 feet in diameter is the recommended size.

3. Water

You are going to need water for the soil to dampen and solidify later on when you've already placed the blackberry plant in its new location. To make it easier for you, it would be best if you're going to place the water on a garden sprayer or hose. When you've already transplanted it, it's also important for the plant to have a steady supply of water. In making this happen, you can place a soaker hose in the new location.

4. Landscape Fabric Staples

You’re also going to need landscape fabric staples. This is important because this is the one which will hold the newly transplanted blackberry in place. What these fabric staples do is that it locks the plant into place and firms up the ground. This helps in avoiding erosion from happening.

5. Fertilizer

Just like any other plant, blackberries need to have a steady dose of nutrients. This means that supplying them with a sufficient supply of water is not enough. They need something more. With this, it makes perfect sense for you to prepare fertilizer. You need to feed them with it once every month. Blackberries are more complicated than other plants because they contain a lot of Vitamin C and fiber. It’s because of this that they too need a lot of nutrients.

Step-by-Step Process in Transplanting Blackberries

 Step #1

The first thing you need to do before you transplant your blackberries is to know the kind of canes present. There are two kinds of canes. The first one is the flora-canes which have a brownish and woody look. While the second one is the primocanes that are greener and smaller. The primocanes are the ones you need to remove and transplant because they haven't yet bear fruits.

Step #2

The next thing you need to do is to find the newly grown plant shoots. The best ones to remove are those that are 6 to 12 inches long and those that have hard and strong stems. When you’ve spotted them, use your shovel or trowel to cut right straight into the stem. Then remove the shoots and the roots that surround the plant. Place them in a bowl or bucket containing a damp newspaper.

Step #3

When you’re done placing them in the bowl or bucket, you can now start removing the plant debris that might have stuck up on your shovel.

Then remove any old leaves, stems, and offshoots that have mixed up from the clump of soil. Gently cut off the old flora-cane stumps so that they won’t grow back oddly. Pour a bit of water into the bowl or bucket so that the blackberry plant wouldn’t dry up. Then cover it with damp newspaper so that the sun’s heat wouldn’t have a negative effect on the soil’s texture.

Step #4

Choose the location where you’re going to place your blackberry plant. It should be a minimum of 2 feet away from the original place where it was taken from. Dig a hole which is 1-2 inch deeper than the original place’s hole. Make sure that the soil surrounding it is loose.

Step #5

Then gently place the blackberries’ root clump inside the hole and cover it with new loam soil. Once it’s covered up nicely, you then pour water into it so that it will dampen and harden. This will make it more secure and less prone to erosion. You can also pour fertilizer on it every once in a while.

You can also check out this video to see the actual process of transplanting your blackberries:

Conclusion

To sum it all up, it is important for you to have your blackberry plant because of its health benefits. Aside from that, it's also delicious. As what the article has shown you, growing your blackberry plant is not difficult even if it needs to be transplanted later on. If you just have the right technical know-how and the determination, you’ll surely be growing them in no time. Fortunately, this article does just that.

If you find this article informative, you can share this with your family and friends. You can also let us know what you think by writing in the comment section below. We would love to hear from you.