When to prune in southern california

So I know next to nothing about pruning

I have a bunch of plum and citrus trees and plan on planting some peaches and pomegrantes and avocados.

what time of the year do I prune?  summer?  winter?  I know that in other parts of the country you prune in the summer but does that hold true here?

how about grapes?  when do i prune grapes?

any recommendation on books or websites that tell me how to prune?


also, do lettuce and such self seed here or will they try to sprout in the spring and die in the summer and not be able to self seed in the fall for their real growing season in the winter?

winter pruning typically stimulates growth, while summer pruning slows growth and can stimulate fruiting.

some plants fruit on new wood, some fruit on one year old wood, and some fruit on older wood.  that's going to have a major influence on when and how to prune each plant.

there are many plants that will do just fine without pruning.  make sure you actually have to prune, as it's a lot of work.  if your existing fruit trees were pruned previously, you're probably going to have to continue.  if they weren't you might not have to.  if the new trees you buy are small, then you might be able to avoid pruning even if they're grafted, though seedlings will do better.

I would be willing to bet there's a backyard fruit grower's group in your area.  joining is a good way to get some information about pruning, though it will likely be oriented more toward intensive pruning as opposed to the folks around here who seem generally to avoid pruning if possible.