Talkback: How to prune a plum tree - Talkback

buzzman

24/11/2011 at 15:28

Everything I read says to prune June to July but that is when the tree is really heavy with fruit so I would be cutting off a lot of the plums. Can't I wait until after fruiting which would probably be end of August?

FlamingJune

24/11/2011 at 15:28

We've pruned our plum tree as late as September, with no damage so far, although we used Seal and Heal on the larger branches. You can cut off the thin leggy branches in summer, they don't usually have any fruit. I've also read that you should prune off any lower branches too.

sandra f

24/11/2011 at 15:28

I planted a young victoria plum tree in april and would like some advice about care and pruning. It is only about five feet in height and is losing its leaves although there are buds forming on the top branches. I would welcome input thanks

mdpowell

24/11/2011 at 15:29

my miniture plum tree has grown quite tall some fruit on the middle of tree but really needs pruning not sure where to start no plums on the long new branches

andrea61

24/11/2011 at 15:29

I planted a Plum tree last year but no plums. However, we have lots of plums this year but do we prune some of the new growth while the plums are still green or do we wait? Im a first time plum lady so any advice is appreciated. :)

narpo181

24/11/2011 at 15:29

I have dwarf apple, pear and plum trees which I bought 2 years ago as bareroot. I potted them into large pots and this year have planted them into my garden. They have all done well and have a small amount of fruit coming (I have thinned out the fruit on the apple). What I would like to know is how and when I should summer prune either or all of the trees. The plum especially has lots of soft new growth. Many thanks, kind regards Val

Jimbo1

24/11/2011 at 15:29

A Rivers Early plum tree planted 20 years ago against a West facing brick gable end is now 15-20ft high. It is roughly fan trained. It is a prolific fruit bearer. The foliage has migrated to the top of the tree. Last year it was so heavy that it pulled away from the wall and almost bent double so I pruned the top drastically at the end of harvesting (mid Sept). I was hoping this might encourage the lower ends of the 5 main ribs of the fan to produce new growth but of this. Any suggestion?

Gweno

24/11/2011 at 15:29

Like Jimbo we have a Huge Plum Tree & Even bigger Damson Tree. No idea how old they are as they came with the house we bought almost 2 years ago ! The Plums come in their 100's & they are so yummy. The Damsons hardly had any until we cut off some of the big branches now this year we have far too many to keep up with. My problem is they are far too big & want to cut them right back before it gets to the point we can't do anything. Would it be ok to cut back all the top branches ?

Jade

24/11/2011 at 15:29

I planted my Victoria Plum early this year and all it has on it is leaves!! It's about 6ft tall and looks pretty pathetic to be honest. When will it fruit and do I actually have to prune it if all it's done is grown leaves on the few branches that it has?

hague161

24/11/2011 at 15:30

Is it OK to prune plum/greengage in moist weather?

Robert Lumsden

17/06/2012 at 18:30

last year we had lots of plums, this year none why is this?

Alina W

17/06/2012 at 20:03

Some plums take alternate years off, so you should get plums next year.

Pruning in wet weather - definitely not, because you run the risk of introducing fungal disease.

Pruning generally - plums are not pruned regularly in the way that, say, apples are. pruning just encourages more growth, so should be restricted to removing damaged or weak branches. They are big trees, and pruning won't change that, but make it worse.

Peter Harvey

25/06/2012 at 16:24

I have a mini orchard in large pots I.e pear .plumb trees they have not produced any fruit this year ,both trees are aboutb.3 year old . What's gone wrong

BobTheGardener

25/06/2012 at 18:50

Peter, it depends on when they flowered. In my area it was very cold and wet when my apples and pears flowered, so there were no bees around and I had very little fruit set. No bees = no fruit, unless you hand-pollinate them. The other thing is feeding. Fruit trees grown in pots need feeding regularly, as they soon use up what was in the original planting medium. RHS advice on that is here:

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=539

Don Hesketh

28/10/2012 at 08:27

my victoria plum has only fruited every other year. Is this normal or does it need some kind of feed. Any ideas?

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