Pruning a loquat tree is important for many reasons. It shapes the tree, controls its size, keeps it healthy, and ensures you get a good harvest of the juicy, aromatic fruits. But they are sensitive trees and can be stressed by over-pruning, so you need to be careful with the tools.
To maintain the long-term health and happiness of these tropical fruit trees, it is essential to understand both when and how to prune a loquat tree. You can grow a loquat tree in a sunny spot in a wide choice of climates and spaces, including smaller and urban gardens, when pruning becomes even more crucial to keep them compact.
Why, When, and How to Prune a Loquat Tree – What the Experts Say
Loquat tree pruning is essential for a great harvest of fruits. Loquats are tip-bearing fruits, meaning they form flowers and fruit on the tips of new branches. As older branches get leggy, regular pruning shapes the tree and encourages the development of more fruiting wood and branch tips closer to the center of the tree.
Trimming loquat trees also keeps them healthy and compact, making harvesting easier. Without pruning, a loquat tree is capable of growing to over 20 feet.
The task may require several pruning tools, depending on the size of the tree, but if you need tools, this 4-in-1 pruning set at Amazon comes with pruning shears, loppers, hedge shears, and a pruning saw – it contains all you need for the job.
When to Prune a Loquat Tree
Knowing the right time to prune fruit trees is crucial for ensuring their long-term health and achieving a bountiful harvest. Not all fruit trees are pruned at the same time, though; some want a winter trim, during their dormancy, and others a late spring or summer prune. So what is it for loquat trees?
The best time to prune a loquat tree is in late winter or early spring, after the fruits have been harvested and before the fruit tree starts to grow again for the new season. This timing provides the tree with sufficient time to heal and grow strongly come spring.
There are tangible benefits to pruning a loquat tree at this time of year. One of these, says Lisa Tadewaldt, tree care expert and owner of Urban Forest Pro, is that it can make pruning easier.
‘Winter pruning allows you to clearly see the tree’s structure and make deliberate cuts without interfering with flowering or fruit development,’ claims Lisa. She adds: ‘It also minimizes stress and helps the tree direct energy efficiently when growth resumes.’
You can also prune a loquat tree lightly in the summer to remove damaged branches or unwanted water sprouts, without affecting the overall production of fruit. But Lisa advises avoiding removing too many branches in summer, warning: ‘It can reduce the tree’s ability to support fruit and increase stress during warmer months.’
One additional fruit tree pruning mistake to avoid is pruning too late in summer, particularly in some regions. Maksim Kazakou, resident botany expert at Plantum, warns against this, as he says: ‘In areas with cold winters, pruning too late won’t let new growth harden off, making it more vulnerable to low temperatures.’
These Japanese pruning shears are made from high-grade blade steel and are perfect for pruning fruit trees. The vinyl-coated handle prevents slipping when trimming.
These 28-inch garden bypass loppers have a steel blade to cut through branches up to 1.5" thick. It also features a non-slip handle for extra control when pruning.
This folding pull-stroke pruning saw has rust-resistant blades made of high-quality steel to cut effortlessly through larger branches.
Shop for tools to prune a loquat tree
Lisa Tadewaldt is the founder and owner of Urban Forest Professionals, an arborist company out of Portland, OR, that has been serving that community for over 15 years
Maksim Kazakou is a resident plant expert for the Plantum app, which helps users identify plant species, diagnose their conditions, and get specific care advice.
How to Prune a Loquat Tree
Loquat tree pruning requires a delicate touch and must only ever be done with clean and sharp pruning tools. Ahead of trimming, choose the goal you want to achieve and try to do that in as few cuts as possible.
The best first step is to remove dead, diseased, and damaged branches, as well as any that are crossing, rubbing, or growing inwards towards the trunk. Removing these select branches helps improve light and airflow into the canopy, which is crucial for a healthy tree.
The longest branches of the tree can then be cut back, and the overall height and shape formed by trimming them back to a leaf node and cutting at a 45-degree angle.
If the canopy still looks dense at this stage of pruning, carefully remove one or two more branches to open up congested areas. However, here it is important to be conservative with trimming, as loquats are sensitive to over-pruning.
‘Mature loquat trees often develop very dense canopies, which can tempt over-pruning,’ warns Lisa. ‘Instead of removing too much at once, it’s better to spread structural pruning over multiple years to avoid shocking the tree.’
Christy Wilhelmi, experienced gardener and founder at Gardenerd, hails the positive effects of taking a ‘gradual pruning’ approach with loquat trees, such as shaping and thinning a third of the tree at a time – and this can have a beneficial impact on yields year after year.
‘We usually recommend pruning about one-third of the tree's branches in year one, then another third in year two, and another third in year three to prevent triggering an alternate bearing habit, where the tree doesn't produce or produces very little the next year, and then produces a bumper crop the year after that,’ says Christy.
‘Gradual pruning helps maintain the canopy and keeps some fruiting tips active for next year.’
The stress from over-pruning a loquat tree shows in many ways, including reduced vigor, increased susceptibility to pests and diseases, and the vigorous growth of suckers or water sprouts. As flowering and fruting are also going to be affected, remember the one-third pruning rule and don’t prune more than this in one season.
Christy has been growing her own food for almost three decades. She is a garden speaker and offers classes, lectures, on-site consulting, and food garden design throughout Los Angeles with growing spaces for vegetables and fruits.
FAQs
How Should I Prune a Young Loquat Tree?
The primary focus for the first few years after planting fruit trees is on formative pruning to get a well-shaped and healthy loquat tree.
This is done in late winter or early spring, and you should cut back long shoots (those longer than 2-3 feet) to encourage lateral, bushier growth and a well-shaped tree. It is also important to remove any dead, diseased, or damaged wood and crossing branches that can rub and create entry points for disease.
Ultimately, it is best to control the height at 6-12 feet to make maintenance and harvesting easier for the coming years.
Once you have a well-shaped, established tree, continue to trim it lightly each year as outlined above.
A loquat tree ranks among the best drought-tolerant fruit trees you can add to your backyard. It makes them perfect for warmer climates or any gardener looking to enjoy homegrown fruit without worrying about diligently watering plants.
If you want to enjoy a more stress-free experience with fruit trees, the likes of fig trees, pomegranates, olives, persimmons, and jujubes are also drought-tolerant trees that reward your care with tasty fruit.
