Many citrus offer fragrant spring blossoms and colorful fruit, but the calamondin orange (Citrus reticulata “Calamondin Variegata”) has the trump card: It fits to any sunny corner. A dwarf citrus, the calamondin rarely grows taller than 15 feet. Its bright evergreen foliage contrasts pleasingly with smaller shrubs and flowering plants all year. The tree is a hybrid developed by spanning a Mandarin orange and a kumquat. It thrives in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11, requiring sun and well-drained soil but small pruning.
Prune off all dead branches from the calamondin whenever you see them. If you’re not certain whether a branch is dead, scape off a little strip of bark with a sharp knife. Green wood under means that the branch is alive.
Prune the calamondin for size and shape control if needed. Act following the crop. Trim each of the highest branches at a lateral branch at least twenty the diameter of the cut branch. Limit the tree’s height to make it easy to harvest fruit however never to take out more than 25 percent of their tree’s canopy.
Remove two or three internal branches, to allow air and sunlight to enter the canopy, always making the cut at a good-sized posterior branch. Fantastic air-flow can avoid fungal diseases.