Hi folks! Wow, it’s been a long time since I posted here. I hope I remember how to use WordPress (I’m kind of a Tumblr person now). Anyway, I’ve received so many comments and questions about how to care for avocado trees, that I wanted to post the results of how extreme trimming of my tree Xavier went last year.
This is how Xavier looked on January 13, 2015, right before I pruned him.
This is how extreme the pruning was.
Xavier always looks kind of bad in the winter time. I live in a cold climate, and my home gets very chilly. There is always a lot of leaf drop when it gets cold, but last winter, I felt like Xavier was getting really unhealthy and needed to “start over.”
I am not an expert on plants or anything, but I have had great luck with Xavier and many of the plants I have, so I decided to give it a try. I was careful to prune with my clean Felco Pruning Shears to make good cuts. (I clean the shears with rubbing alcohol after every trim – I can’t tell you whether that’s a good thing for the shears or not – only Felco knows for sure, but that’s what I do.) I didn’t water him very much at all during this time before the leaves grew back, because I felt he was dormant.
It took many weeks for leaves to grow back, but they grew back abundantly, just as when Xavier was healthiest!
I am proud to report that Xavier looks great. I just took this photo today (January 31, 2016). You can see Xavier is a lot healthier this winter than he was last winter. Sure, there are some brown leaves, and there’s been a bit of seasonal leaf-drop, but still! Just look at my guy here! I didn’t add any fertilizer or compost this year, either. Just water!
Xavier on January 31, 2016. Looking good! (I’ve got to lose that Diamond Armor Minecraft mask I made for my son for Halloween years ago! JEEZ!)
Other avocado tree-related posts of mine:
How to grow an avocado tree from seed
Should I prune my avocado tree?
SYNTK 
Thanks for the update. Xavier looks good–just not as tall. How long was it from pruning to the leaves you show us in your 01/31 photograph? –james
It was just over a year – Jan 13,2015 pruning to 1/31/16 (today’s photo).
Okay, I noted the dates, but wondered if you have full leaves before then. Excellent…
May I post your 01/31 picture of Xavier pruned to my blog? Thanks!
Sure. No problem. You can post that picture of him pruned.
Thank you. I will refer back to your blog.
Yes. Definitely had full leaves way before a year. I don’t remember exactly, but it was probably between 6-14 weeks. Sorry I don’t remember exactly.
Very good. I have some idea what to expect. Take care…