[BacktoBasics]

I have been fortunate enough to aquire a lovely victoria plum tree today!  It's a good size and a few years old. I'm going to get it into the ground tomorrow but I have a couple of questions. It will be going into ground that was previously occupied by chickens so it will be good from a feed point of vie but the ground is fairly heavy clay. Could I do with mixing this with some organic matter to loosen it a bit and make it drain better? Should I line the hole with compost? or should I fill it in completely with what I've dug out?

Inevitably some of the branches have been damaged or snapped in transit. I have cut these cleany with seceteurs but I realise this is not a good time of year for plum tree pruning as they may end up with silverleaf. What can I do to seal up the open "wounds" to help avoid silver leaf?

Finally, I'd love to hae some fruit off it this year but would I be wise to stop it fruiting this year to help it establish better?

Thanks all

[mumofstig]

I wouldn't let it bear much fruit, until it's had a chance to recover -  you may want to prune the top a bit when the weather is a bit warmer, and the buds start to swell - so the tree has a chance to grow some new roots to support the top growth.
Arbrex Seal N Heal is the stuff you need, pruned at the right time the advice is not to use it any more, but needs must

[calculad]

Bob Flowerdew (GQT) scorches a damaged branch on stone fruits, then applies a sealer.

[BacktoBasics]

thanks both. i now have it in the ground and have sealed up any breaks that happened during transit. i was wkndering if there is any way to identify what rootdtock it is on? the guy i got it from has no idea and i could do with having an idea of how big it will be eventually. i had a friend some time ago who had a victoria plum tree almost as tall as his house!

[mumofstig]

If you can see a bump line around the bottom of the trunk you'll know it's a grafted plant at least.

The RHS lists 2 rootstocks for plum

A pyramid plum tree is considerably smaller than a pruned a bush, and this makes it practical to net against birds. Plums on ‘St. Julien A’ rootstocks are kept to 2.4m (8ft) and on ‘Pixy’ rootstocks to 1.8m (6ft).

There's also some advice on training to keep it small
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/profile.aspx?pid=339

[stainesbloke]

Arbrex Heal n Seal is a good product if ur pruning stone fruit at this time of the year. Used some today on a greengage that suffered minor transit damage. Also on an apricot which I'd never prune til May normally but it had a long leader and not much else lol