[gavinjconway]

I have a large (too big to pick the fruit) Damson from tree at the bottom end of my new lottie. I need to prune it to get it to a manageable size. Someone told me they thought to prune straight after fruiting as in the winter there is a virus it could catch on newly cut wounds... Can anyone shed some light on this?

[Yorkie]

They are almost right.  It should be pruned in about June in order to minimise the risk of silver leaf disease, I think it is. This applies to all stone fruit.

[stompy]

Isn't there something you can dress the wound with after pruning in order to seal against silver leaf and the likes?

[mumofstig]

RHS advice here
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?pid=339

another of their pruning pages says

There is no need to use wound paints, as they are not thought to contribute to healing or prevent disease. The exception is plums and cherries (Prunus sp), where wound paint may be used to exclude silver leaf disease spores.

[gavinjconway]

Thanks for the advices... I'll do it in June after the harvest.