Blog: Enjoy home-grown fruit with the minimum of effort…
Many people avoid pruning stone fruits (plums, apricots, peaches, cherries and hybrids) because they aren’t sure what to do or when. Read more on cherries.
They’re quite easy to grow, and pruning is much simpler than apples and pears. I was drafted in to have a look at a damson on my dad and sister-in-law-type-things’ allotment. Don’t forget to have clean and sharp tools. You’ll need secateurs, ratchet loppers and a pruning saw.
Pruning plums
This is what makes it easy. Only prune established trees in midsummer, as this reduces the chance of infection by silver leaf disease. Don’t prune them in winter. If young trees need formative pruning, do that in April, but this is a basic guide. I won’t be covering it here.
Plums can be trained as bushes, pyramids, fans and cordons. This particular damson was a bush but was quite overgrown. With bushes, you’re aiming for an open-centred tree with a stem of about 75cm. Most are on a dwarfing rootstock (fruit trees are usually grafted onto different ‘roots’ to limit their size).
Pruning stone fruits
If you do nothing else, remove any dead, diseased or crossing branches. The latter is where two branches rub together, removing the bark, and allowing diseases and pests to enter. Remove any buds developing on the lower trunk and pull off suckers from the rootstock.
After you’ve done this, if the tree is still crowded, thin out any weak or vertical shoots. Don’t overdo it. Cutting out too much of the crown will result in lots of water shoots next year. This is sappy growth with no fruit-bearing spurs.
Pruning stone fruits – When branches come a cropper
One problem with my apricot Kioto – and my Japanese blood plum Lizzie – is that they can have heavy crops that break branches. If this happens to you, cut the branch back cleanly to the next intact branch. After pruning and fruiting, give trees a good general fertiliser, water well and mulch.
P.S. – When I saw the pictures, I realised there was a label after all – damson Merryweather. Turns out to be rather vigorous with a height and spread of 2.5-4m. It was bought as a gift in a bundle. If you have limited space, do beware – the smallest of saplings can end up being whoppers! Looks like it will have to come out…
Read more about peach leaf curl resistant varieties or how about some more adventurous and unusual fruit adventurous and unusual fruits.
