It is safe to prune any time. Nothing wrong with now.

6b Steve

When a woody plant is stressed such as yours is, it's wise to leave it be until it shows you what is alive, what is dead. Prune before then and you risk removing wood (with reserves) which could support survival.

Thank you guys! Jean, I realize he is stressed a bit, but his limbs are green and this is something I've seen almost every winter. The fact that the branches are starting to grow buds at the ends shows me that he is alive and well. I think I will go ahead and trim because I don't want him to spend precious energy and resources growing leaves that I am going to cut off. Thanks Evan and Steve!

You're the hacking queen so I'm sure you know best. I still have a really hard time doing it myself. It did save my calamondin last year though that was not looking good so I am in full support.

The deed is done, but it was not a severe pruning...more of a shaping. I think he'll fill out nicely this spring. There were definitely branches that were about to sprout, so I guess it was a good time. I hope he's not too mad at me ;-)

Let us know how it turns out.

My guess would be that if you see new growth activity (the buds you mention), it should be OK. My concern is that if some of the stems do die back, you might need those backups.

I'll let you know how he does. I can say that in the four years I've overwintered him, he has never had any stem dieback, so I hope this year is not the first. Fingers crossed!