How to Trim a Loquat Tree
- 1). Prune loquat trees to maintain a size of 6 to 12 feet. This makes all parts of the tree reachable for easy maintenance and fruit harvesting.
- 2). Clean pruning shear blades before use. Dip them in boiling water for 30 seconds or wipe them with a cloth dipped in rubbing alcohol to remove bacteria, fungus and insect eggs.
- 3). Look for dead or damaged branches and cut them back to living wood, using a pruning saw for branches larger than 2 inches in diameter, and long-handled pruning shears for smaller branches.
- 4). Trim your loquat tree in early spring to increase fruit production by thinning the canopy. Look for crossing or rubbing branches and clip out the ones that grow vertically, leaving the horizontally-growing branches intact. More light in the canopy makes the loquat produce bigger and more fruit.
- 5). Cut the tips from branches in fall to decrease fruit production if the tree is overbearing. Tipping also helps control height. Repeat tipping in early summer as shoots develop from the cut ends of the branches.
- 6). Clean and dry pruning tool blades before storing or using them on other plants. Bag and discard clippings, or put them in your compost pile if they are not diseased.
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