FRUITS > PLUMS > PRUNING
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Fruit trees are big plants for a relatively lowly - upkeep garden .
Often , once established , they will call for little care , but pruning is one crucial job to take care of .
‘Victoria’ plum tree
pick up when and how to lop the different Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and other flora in your garden is important , since for many species , pruning right can help oneself keep them healthy and generative over time .
Plum trees are a little different to Malus pumila , and many other plebeian tree diagram when it do to their pruning requirements – so here is a template to help you work out what you should do to your plum tree diagram , and when .
Why Prune A Plum Tree?
If you have a productive plum tree in your garden , you may wonder why you need to prune it at all .
You might be thinking – “ if it is n’t broke , do n’t fix it ” .
But if you fail to crop a plum tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , you may find that issues get to creep in – and your productive plum may educate problem and become less productive over metre .
Plum trees need to be prune for a telephone number of reasons , including to :
When To Prune A Plum Tree
No matter your reasons for pruning a plum Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree , and regardless of what you hope to attain , it is significant to lop at the right-hand time .
plum should be pruned in late leaping , or over the summer months , and not in fall or over the wintertime .
Since many other trees are well pruned over the dormant period , this is one matter that sets plum tree and other Prunus tree apart .
Spring is typically the best time to prune vernal trees , and it is best to prune establish trees in the eye of summertime .
The reasonableness why it is not a unspoiled thought to leave behind the pruning of plum tree trees until moth-eaten weather arrives is that pruning during cold and tight periods can make it more likely that disease will take hold .
plum pruned in autumn or winter are more likely to become infect with silver leafage disease .
This is a fungal contagion that can kill off branches , or even kill the tree diagram altogether in extreme cases .
Maintenance Pruning
If your plum tree is in a received or pubic hair form , then pruning will generally only be light , for general maintenance .
A upkeep prune will , first of all , ask insure over the tree diagram , and attend for the “ Three calciferol ’s ” – take away any cloth that isDead , Damaged or Diseased .
You will also remove any limb which are rubbing against one another , and any that are derange or disrupt the ocular appearance of the tree diagram ’s form .
You may also off arm to give up the centre of a tree a minuscule more to permit the sun through , but pruning will in general be fairly light .
One other matter to note is that on grafted trees ( most fruit trees are generally grafted – with a scion grafted onto a rootstalk ) you may observe suckers do from the rootstock .
These , you will also want to polish off .
Pruning For Shape & Form
Plum trees can also be shaped into specific flesh .
Where this is the case , the pruning chore will be slightly more complex , as you will prune not just for oecumenical maintenance , but to maintain the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and form .
plum tree trees can be :
Pyramid-Shaped Plums
If you have a pyramid - shape plum tree , it will typically be kept to between 1.8 m and 2.4 thousand ( depending on the rhizome that was used ) .
During the first summer , you should wait until July , and then shorten new branches to 20 cm , cutting each one above a bud which is front outwards .
Side branch should be curve back to a bud at around 15 centimeter . The central loss leader should then be trail and tied into the stake .
In following years , you should swerve back the central drawing card by two third gear each April , reduplicate annually until the tree has reached the top optimal for its rootstock .
After this , the central loss leader should be trimmed back each May to keep the tree the same tiptop .
Vertical shoot compete with this fundamental leader should be take away in late June .
Then , towards the end of July , branch leader should be pruned to around 20 cm , and side branches to around 15 cm in distance .
Fan Shaped Plums
If your plum tree Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree is trained into a buff form against a rampart or fencing , pruning will be complex at first , but is easy to manage once you have the initial fan shape .
The particular of pruning a fan condition tree will depend on the tree initially purchase , and its stage of increment .
For established fan train plum trees , bind shoots into the theoretical account where there is space to do so .
Get rid of shoots growing into the wall or fencing , and any that are too crowded – then take back all remaining Modern shoot to around six leaves .
After fruiting , cut back to three leaves to create a goading on which yield will shape next year .
foreshorten out potent upright shoots where these develop on vigorous plum trees completely if they can not be tied into the fabric .
It is also a good idea to assure that there is young woods but cut back a couple of old , fruit branches to a vigorous unexampled shoot after harvest home – and to tie that new shoot into the supports in place of that older branch .
For plums that are harvested in fall , it is good to depart switch pruning of this character until spring .
Cordon Or Columnar Plums
Cordon or columnar plum are an excellent result for in particular small spaces .
To prune these , once they have strain the desired height , cut back the leader to around 1.5 cm each May .
launch cordon plum tree should then be rationalize in July / August .
Cut off the shoot peak of each sidelong spur to leave around 6 leaves .
After the harvest , prune back to three farewell to leave the fruiting prodding .
Renovating An Old Mature Plum Tree
If you have a orotund and neglected ripe plum tree tree in your garden , you may wish to prune a little more smartly to shorten size of it and improve the wellness and productivity of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree .
But it is important to undertake renovations slowly , over a number of years .
crop back a plum Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree too hard can do more harm than good , so take thing a step at a time .
If there is an area of desolate Ellen Price Wood , pruning to a bud above this field may boost raw growth .
It may induce bud that have become inactive – though there are no guarantees .
you’re able to also notch just above a abeyant shoot where you desire to encourage outgrowth to attempt to spark it back to life .
Primarily , with a large mature tree , you should aim first and foremost to ensure an receptive canopy , and to remove idle , discredited or pathological stuff .
“ animate former fruit tree take time , ” part Colin Skelly , a Horticultural Consultant .
“ You ca n’t bring back a productive structure in a class but over 3 - 5 years you may often rejuvenate vigorous growing and a planned structure .
“ Begin by slay utter , damaged or diseased limb and then select one or two crossing branches in the center of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree .
“ Over the next few years , you slowly restore a desired social organisation , being thrifty to go slowly to avoid the tree responding with lots of vigorous Modern ontogeny . ”
attempt to prune back to natural fork in the tree diagram to quash go forth messy stubs .
An old gardener once separate me that you should prune an old yield tree to deoxidise congestion over metre , so that a pigeon can fly through between all the branches .
