Old tangerine tree, Encore variety, before pruning in photo at left, and after pruning in next photo below, - an extraordinary transformation.  Spring 2013.

Black Mission Fig before pruning, Normal Heights, January 2009. Pruned each year since 1992.

Nectarine tree in Vista, November 2016, immediately after pruning.  The owner requested it get a modest pruning even though the leaves hadn't dropped yet,.... and that's fine to do.   I didn't take a 'before' picture, but you can see the trimmings on the ground.  What I did was reduce the size/height about 2 feet, along with some thinning/lacing.

Olive tree in Escondido, October 2018, before pruning in photo above and in the click-on photo to enlarge at left.  Before pruning photo is below:

Photo at left before pruning, photo below after pruning, in winter.   This is a low pruning style.  The amount of water this tree is getting is excessive during the growing season.   I recommend less water, especially after fruit ripening, so as to not promote so much growth, which is basically excessive, unless one wants a taller tree.   I could've pruned this substantially higher, but, my guiding idea was/is for the tree/bush to bear fruit without the limbs getting overburdened, and drooping, and yet still getting plenty of production.   I prune for keeping sufficient amounts of flower buds on sturdy limbs and twigs, for a plentiful crop of high quality fruit. It's also good to do pre-ripening-season thinning of new growth to get more light on the fruit for more skin color and sweetness, if desired.   And of course, it's also best to thin the fruit out during the early stage of fruit development, in order to have less fruit, but still plenty of fruit in order to get higher quality fruit, in the sense of a most excellent 'fullsome' flavor with beautiful sweetness, flavor, and texture.  Escondido, 2018.

Panamint Nectarine about two to three years after planting.  So, as you can see it's growing rather modestly, not excessively, which is good..  Photos showing before pruning at left, and after pruning below.  The purpose of the pruning is to cut the limbs/twigs to firmer/shorter lengths in order to better hold and ripen the fruit, for better fruit quality of more size and 'fullsome' flavorfulness and juiciness.   Santee, 2017.

Orange tree at beginning of getting a 'makeover', some limbs already cut off.  Bonita, 2008.

White Sapote in San Diego, 2014, before pruning in the click-on photo at left, and right after pruning in photo below:

Young peach tree before pruning at left and after pruning below.   The reason for the cutting back is to keep the branches firmer for holding fruit, so the branches won't sag substantially, and reducing the amount of fruit set in order to improve fruit quality, though thinning will also likely be necessary after fruit set when they reach about 1" in size in order to get better/best quality fruit, leaving at least a fist spacing between fruit when they're at that 1" size in order to allow full development without likely touching when the fruit is mature.   And pruning is of course also done for size control.

Santa Rosa Plum, after pruning, 2018, in Rancho San Diego.  Before photo wasn't taken.

Same pine as photo 34, just before second thinning-pruning.

 Same tree as photo 24 after pruning, though photo taken about a month after pruning job.  A bit of flowering and leafing have begun in this photo.  Kensington.

Snta Rosa Plum after pruning, August 2018.  Before pruning photo at left, which you click on to enlarge.   The plum was getting too big for the space, in part due to too much watering, and so I also turned off the nozzle which was watering it.   For this site location, it's a good bet that it may not needed any further direct watering, in part due to the large lawn immediately in front of it and the site location being in a low lying area, and thus the soil is likely to have longer water reserves in the deeper soil (than I higher elevation site) which is still within access by the roots.  An additional reason is the small space for the plum to grow in nicely, to be kept 'well-kept', and not too large for the space.   It's likely that two to three times per year pruning will be best, such as in summer after fruit ripening time, winter during dormancy for some refinement of the pruning, and then possibly some pruning before the fruit ripen.

Old Japanese Black Pine at beginning of pruning, with purpose to thin it out substantially, 2011. 

Slightly different angle after pruning. 

Showing Tabebuia chrysotricha (aka Handroanthus chrysotrichus), a yellow flowering small tree, wherein it had two codominant stems, which created a narrow crotch shown in the close-up photo.   Narrow crotches/attachments such as this, having a 'v' shape, with 'included bark', are relatively prone to breaking-off through a combination of weight stresses due to growth weight and/or strong winds.   The portion that was cut off was nearly half of the canopy-crown.  The portion that remains was determined to be more substantial and even in distribution.   I was called in to diagnose and correct this structural situation, and so I decided to cut out the lesser desireable portion, and brace the remaining portion and trunk, in order for the remaining portion to take on a balanced central postion.  Btw, I didn't consider taking a before photo, - woops.   The staking positions were re-done along with the multiple points of bracing as necessary to make for a straight trunk and centered canopy.  In the full length photo at left the v-crotch is at the second-from-top rubber brace.  In time, maybe two to three years, the tree will strengthen its structure and be self standing without staking.

Young Panamint Nectarine before pruning.  Linda Vista 2014.

Photo at left after cutting out root stock suckers.  Photo below showing rootstock suckers before cutting them out.  This is a multi-graft Citrus bush/tree in which rootstock suckers grew out from near ground level without control, growing well beyond the height of the grafted Citrus.   So I cut the suckers off at their origin on the trunk.    The mass of visible foliage on the Citrus, after the rootstock suckers were cut out, is Cara Cara Navel Orange.  There are 4 other Citrus grafted on but the Cara Cara Navel vastly outgrew them all because its growth was not kept in check to balance with the other varieties.   The other varieties grafted on are Lane Late Navel Orange, Washington Navel Orange, Valencia Orange, and Moro Blood Orange, but again, they did very little growth development, and which is all shrouded by the Cara Cara Navel growth which is what's seen in the photo.   This tree was purchased pre-grafted at a nursery.  Photo is about 2 years after planting in the ground here.   I was called in to get things under control, with this one and a few other fruit trees.   La Mesa, 2018

 Jacaranda tree, reduced per client's desire.  La Jolla, 2014.

Appe tree, Chula Vista, 2014.  Client wanted tree reduced modestly, after years of no pruning; not really detailed pruned, just informally reduced.  

Photo of Orange tree after grooming-pruning, cutting out dead and low vitality branches and twigs.  Pt. Loma, 2010: And the before pruning photo, below, earlier in the same day:

Olive bush, probably the Wilsonii variety trained bushy style rather than tree style.   Steele Canyon area, July 2020.  Before and after pruning photos.