Last year we purchased a home with an old orange tree. How much pruning does it need, and when should it be fertilized?
The main care needed is regular feedings with a citrus-type fertilizer in March, May, August and early October. Use one-quarter pound of the citrus fertilizer for each inch of tree circumference measured 6 inches above the ground. Then scatter the fertilizer over the surface of the soil under the spread of the tree and beyond the drip line. Pruning usually is restricted to the removal of declining branches and limbs that might be in the way of tree maintenance. Also remove any shoots that begin to form below the graft that is normally found within a foot of the ground.
