[samuria]

  we had several plums off our tree, which  was planted 3 years a go...
its a victoria
 now it looks  dead
no leaves and the tips of branches are dried out....
what should i do...
thanks

[Yorkie]

Oh dear.

What sort of soil is it planted in?

Have you been watering it?

Have you pruned it at all?  If so, when?

Any piccies?

[samuria]

we have been watering it.
will get a photo tomorrow.
only pruned it last year.
(a chap up the road is a landscape gardener)
he came and looked then

[Yorkie]

What time of year did you prune it?

Any chance it could have been contaminated with any spray drift from weedkillers?

[samuria]

pruned it last autum
no weedkillers used here....

[Yorkie]

It's not silver leaf is it?

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=245

[4 Seasons]

You prune plums in the spring when the sap is rising so that any fungal spores find it difficult to enter the tree. As the previous poster said silver leaf is the thing everybody tries to avoid with Victorias as they are prone to it more than other plums. By pruning in the autumn you have probably left the tree vulnerable to it unfortunately but it doesn't usually kill the tree suddenly so it may be something else. If you have to replant another tree don't put it in the same spot as the spores will probably be in the roots as well as the trunk and branches. If there is no other place to put it change as much of the soil as you can and drench the surrounding soil with Jeyes Fluid.

[ghost61]

Are you sure it's dead?  All of my plum and damson trees have lost their leaves and look dead compared to the other fruit trees.  Have you scratched the bark off to see if there is green showing underneath? 

[Yorkie]

You prune plums in the spring when the sap is rising so that any fungal spores find it difficult to enter the tree. As the previous poster said silver leaf is the thing everybody tries to avoid with Victorias as they are prone to it more than other plums. By pruning in the autumn you have probably left the tree vulnerable to it unfortunately but it doesn't usually kill the tree suddenly so it may be something else. If you have to replant another tree don't put it in the same spot as the spores will probably be in the roots as well as the trunk and branches. If there is no other place to put it change as much of the soil as you can and drench the surrounding soil with Jeyes Fluid.

It is no longer legal to use Jeyes Fluid as a soil drench.

[Comfr3y]

i just posted v similar without seeing yours was there. you said it had no leaves, i dont know whether that is normal - you're in norfolk, right, but even tho my plum leaves look knackered and rusty they haven't all dropped. when did they all drop?

ps on the weedkiller comment. i know people on our lotment use it. my neighbours comfrey has mysteriously all disappeared and he now has a new storage area just nearby my tree.