Dale, Thanks for the above article. I have seen it before. Just about everything in the aritcle pertains to citrus trees that are planted more or less tight in a commerical grove. As the article said, "The tighter the spacing (between the trees) the decison to prune is more important as the trees are crowded". It also stated, "The wider the spacing, the less the need to prune." First let me state that during the first years, there is no need to prune at all, since research has shown that any cut to a young tree reducse root grooth. This is due to the equilibrium between foliage and root system. A tree is a biological unit. Cuts on a young tree, discourages canopy growth and delays the tree from coming into bearing. For mature dooryard, or containerized citrus trees, there is very little reason to ever prune except for....(1)when the same space within the canopy is covered by more than one branch, it is not good or convenient to let surplus branches occupy the same aerial space. Even suckers should be kept if they occupy free spaces. After a few years they bear fruit. (2) All INTERIOR suckers must be cut. Vegtation free canopy spaces must be avoided since they reuce yield (3)After many years as the tree becomes aged crops become reduced and fruits become smaller. This is the time to make severe cuts to renew growth (rejuvenate old trees). Take care, thanks for your great participation in this forum.- Millet

Good advice Millet,......other than removing suckers I can't recommend pruning very young trees

Good post Millet you are correct

MaineGrown, welcome to the citrus forum. You live in a beautiful state. - Millet

A different point of view for first year pruning.
I prune the first flush of a newly planted tree back to about 6 or 8 inches, enough to have 4 or 5 nodes and no more. These then flush out again giving a much more dense crown to the tree. If any of these then grow beyond the (all be it tiny) canopy, I prune back again to furter back than the canopy line, expecting that each single branch will again branch out to 4 or 5 more branches, making the canopy fuller, and more dense.
Even the second and third year, when I get long shooting branches, I cut them back to 4 or 5 nodes, letting them branch out with the next flush.
Each time I do this, I wait until the agressive branch reaches full length and the leaves just start to reach mature size before pruning. Other wise, if I try to just pinch back early, it seems to stunt the branch.
A dense crown is of utmost importance here in the desert heat, as the first summer will burn to a crisp any branches that do not have a bit of shade from others, but the same procedure seems to work well in sunset zone 23 as well, shaping the tree for strength of the branches.
Arthur the Date Palm Guy