[VegGirl7]

I was on the phone to mum last night and I mentioned that I couldn't decide on what variety of plum I wanted for the allotment and if she could remember the variety my granddad had as I couldn't remember
(he planted the plum when me and my cousin were born to celebrate (there are only 3 days age difference between us) and I remember they were delicious, the tree was only 7-8ft (ideal) and so laden with fruit he had to prop the branches up to stop them snapping!)

Well, the variety was 'Victoria' "because it's the best" and she also said "you must remember to carefully hammer a copper nail into the trunk, Granddad used to swear it was why he has so much fruit!"  My Dad had apparently found the nail for him as they are hard to come by...

I was quite surprised so have done a bit of researching and have only found reference to copper to kill a tree.... BUT, I have stumbled across a  few mentions of hammering an Iron nail into fruit trees to increase fruit production, or even putting them into the soil around and under the tree when you plant it -
(It has been common for my Mum to get herself mixed up with things so I wouldn't be surprised if she meant iron, not copper) 

Which leads me to the question - Has anyone tried or heard of doing this? And, what other  wise words of advice am I missing out on??
   

[AlaninCarlisle]

I've heard of taking a stick to a plum tree to thrash it to make it yield more. As for a copper nail, in my opinion, based on what I already knew, that'd kill it eventually

[mumofstig]

copper nails are sometimes recommended for killing trees 

[VegGirl7]

I have read that about copper so won't be taking the risk,   thanks,

but what about an Iron nail? (I'm sure that's what my mum really meant...  - she can be a little dippy and get words mixed up  )

[Judd]

'A woman ,a dog and a walnut tree,the more you beat them the better they be'

A very old saying, not sure I hold with all of it though

[solway cropper]

Don't hammer any kind of nail into a tree. When the tree eventually dies and some nice man comes with a chainsaw to remove it you'll bug**r up the chain if it hits the nail.