Highly doubtful those leaves are coming back. So why not strip them off and leave the branches for later? Then you have no fire hazard

As you plunge in removing leaves you will get a better fix on what branches can also be removed today. If in doubt leave the branch for later consideration

Yes stripping off just leaves is more laborious and you might have to use a ladder

Nancy:

Yikes, that is a hard sight to look at. How hot do your lights get? As you said the conventional wisdom is do no pruning until spring and leave the leaves too as additional protection from the cold. If your light temps are not close to the ignition point, whatever that is, I'd leave everything until spring. If the temp of the lights is anywhere close....trim away. Good luck with the decision. In the final analysis, trimming probably won't make that much difference, IMO.

Harry

Thanks for the response Zands and Harry!

Since the trees are dwarf...there's not a lot of space between the bottom of the leaves and where I have the lights maybe 10-14"?? I'm using work lights 250-300watts and I just purchased a new one (haven't used it yet) that is 500 watts. They are the halogen type bulbs.

It really is very hard to look at...you would think after the 3rd year in a row this has happened to my trees (it looks like this every year) I would be used to seeing it, but I never am!

These are what I use...

Any warnings on the lights about distances to keep away from it and potential fire hazards?

Harry

Harry, you got me...I will have to read the very fine print...as this is being used for what I'm sure is not exactly what the work lights are meant for. I think I need to trim those dead leaves, even though I know I should wait to trim, I would feel better knowing that I've done what I can to prevent something from starting a "spark" or worse.

Hi pug. Those trouble lights are pretty safe.

I have ornamental grasses planted pretty near my trees like this one:
{{gwi:1304617}}

Those grasses end up inside my shelters. This pic's a bit old, but the grasses are now fully brown and tinderbox dry. Even so, I have the trouble light sitting about 8 inches from them with no problem. For the trouble lights at least I think if you have 6-8" of clearance then you won't have a fire danger. They get really hot if you are touching them, but I can easily hold my hand at 8" away. So I figure that isn't hot enough to start a fire.

Let us know what you decide.

Thanks Sunworshiper for that valuable information...exactly the info I was happy to read, helps a lot. I decided to only prune a few of the dead/brown leaves that were pretty close to where the light will be...the rest I left alone and will wait till March to prune.

Thanks again!

BTW, DH bought be a small portable greenhouse that I will put over one of my mango trees...most likely the Glenn since that one is planted in the open. He will put it together this week...I will post pictures once its up. Its a hoop style 6.5ft tall x 6.5ft wide x 10ft long...should work for a while since I plan on keeping this tree short for at least a few more years. I also have a utility heater with a tip over safety that I will use inside to heat. I will leave the green house up till the middle of March once the threat of freeze is over.

Hope this works!

Glad that helped.

The greenhouse sounds great! Looking forward to seeing pictures and hearing how it works for you!