Established citrus trees generally require little pruning. Pruning can be done to remove dead wood, to remove suckers (shoots arising from below the graft union) and to remove water sprouts (fast growing, very upright shoots which have large leaves and large and numerous thorns). Pruning can also be done to control the size of the tree to make it easier to maintain the trees and to harvest the fruit. Keep in mind that it is not beneficial to prune citrus to open up the interior of the canopy as might be done with apples or peaches in northern areas.