I have a lime tree planted in my yard that gets a good amount of sun. Probably been 3 years since planting. I thought I would see young fruits by now. I'm not entirely sure the proper way to prune it as to spread out a bit more as the very top of the tree is very leggy. Any advice? Thank you.

I would remove all the small stems at the base of the plant. It looks like you may have planted the tree too deep.. Remove the mulch from the base of the plant to expose the root flare. If so just remove the top inch of soil away from the flair. You want to have a tree not a bush so take your time and prune to devolope a upper tree canopy and don't let it grow into a bush.

The shoots with the three part leaves are from the rootsock, and they should be removed as close as you can.
Since it is obviously a grafted plant the exposing of the root flare is less important.
I will recommend a wider circle of mulch. Remove the competing grass.
How have you been fertilizing it? Is your soil alkaline or sand?

The trifoliate branches need to be removed and never allowed to grow. From your photo (green on green), its hard to pick out what needs to be there and what should be removed. You may discover you are removing more tree than you are keeping because trifoliate root stock is very aggressive.

But even grafted trees need a root flare. Dig it out.

Citrus roots are very shallow. Planted in a lawn, your tree is going to have to compete for nutrients and water. If you are using weed and feed type products, you may be harming your tree with the herbicide while supplying too much nitrogen. That would keep it from blooming.

What is wrong with the tallest stem? I can't tell but the leaves don't look right and the tip is dead.

Your original question was proper pruning. Citrus don't need pruning per se but remove root stock suckers, dead branches, water sprouts and anything that crosses through the middle of the tree. You didn't say what kind of lime but type will determine eventual shape and size.

The rootstock is of trifoliate orange; they root vigorously, so any part that is buried will make roots. Therefore exposing the root flare is not needed here.
On the other hand, one usually does not want the graft union to be buried, because if the top variety were to root it might negate the advantages the rootstock variety has. For that reason it is best to locate the graft union and keep it above the mulch or soil.
I just realized that the OP may be in an area with Citrus greening disease (also known as Huanglongbing (HLB). There is no cure for that.

The tree is a Persian/Tahitian. First time planting citrus. Thanks for all the suggestions

I dug deeper so root ball shows and trimmed a bit on the bottom. What else should I trim? I also dug a bit more of the grass away

Any stem that has 3-part leaves.

Lucy is right; all the stems that are from the rootstock have trifoliate leaves. They have to go.
What is your fertilizer frequency?
What is your soil like?

My soil is sandy and I use citrus fertilizer stakes 2x a year.
As far as cutting branches with trifoliate leaves, I'm worried about cutting too much. There are 3 part leaves everywhere. 😬

I don't know how we could be clearer: ALL the stems that have 3-part leaves must go. They are not helping. They are not going to give you limes; their fruit is inedible.
Get a fertilizer that is granular or a disolvable powder made for citrus and use it every month. In sandy soil the fertilizer leaches away quickly.
Good luck.

That was my warning: You will remove more tree than you keep. But, if you want a lime tree, prune all those stems out. If you want a bitter orange, leave them in. This is a matter of life or death for your (lime) tree.

I know I am repeating Hortica but thought if you heard it twice, you would believe what we are saying.

Hello! Were you aware that Florida has been fighting citrus greening for a while now? Your leaves look like it has it. The University of Florida is suggesting a few methods to help your tree survive. https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/home... They also have helpful suggestions on when to irrigate and fertilize. Good luck!

Do ANY of the stems have leaves that are not trifoliate? If none of them do, you have lost the Tahitian Lime and have to get a new one.

jattq3 said: Hello! Were you aware that Florida has been fighting citrus greening for a while now? Your leaves look like it has it. The University of Florida is suggesting a few methods to help your tree survive. https://crec.ifas.ufl.edu/home... …. Good luck!

From that site: "Once a citrus tree becomes infected with HLB, removal is recommended in order to reduce the source of inoculum for psyllid feeding and transmission to other trees in the area."
So, there are no proven methods of management of the disease that would return it to fruitfulness. They have developed some resistant orange varieties (the trifoliate orange is resistant).

"Unfortunately, in high disease-pressure areas of the state, it is inevitable that a citrus tree will become infected with HLB."
Good luck will not help I'm afraid.