[tudou]

We have a decent sized, mature plum tree in the garden of the house we moved into last year. When we moved in the owners said they'd had quite a haul of plums that year. This year we didn't get anything so I'm assuming it's hopefully going to fruit bi-annually.

Bearing this in mind, when would be the best time to prune it and how should I go about doing it?

Many thanks. 

[aelf]

spring is best for pruning, according to my fruit tree book. Also, if the tree needs a lot of pruning, try spreading it out over a few years to stop the tree going into shock.

I wasn't aware that plums could be biannual fruiters. Could it just be that this year the blossom was frosted before it could be pollinated?

[mumofstig]

Plums, Victoria especially, are well known for biennial fruiting if the crop is not thinned out in a good year.

RHS:Victoria is one of the most popular plum trees available but does need the fruit to be thinned to avoid biennial fruiting.

[aelf]

well, there you go, we learn something every day. Thanks Mos 

[Yorkie]

Spring is the time to prune young trees; for mature trees it is mid-summer
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/Profile.aspx?PID=339

[tudou]

Thanks. I guess I missed the boat this year. After the extremely high winds and terrible winter we had, I was a bit worried that pruning it might weaken it too much.

The house itself is 15 years old so the tree can't be any older than that - I'm guessing that's not quite a mature tree. Best to leave it until after this winter then?

[AlaninCarlisle]

My Victoria plum tree prunes itself every few years. The weight of fruit just breaks a few branches off in a good year. All I do then is just tidy up the breaks and heyho, we're all set until the next bumper year.

This year was one of those years by the way

[Yorkie]

Thanks. I guess I missed the boat this year. After the extremely high winds and terrible winter we had, I was a bit worried that pruning it might weaken it too much.

The house itself is 15 years old so the tree can't be any older than that - I'm guessing that's not quite a mature tree. Best to leave it until after this winter then?

I would treat it as a mature tree and leave it till summer.

[Trillium]

My purple plum tree finally fruited for the first time this year, and we got a nice little crop from it. But the dwarf tree has grown quite tall and I plan to prune it in spring so I don't have to do ladders anymore.

I've also had black knot on this tree, but not quite as bad as my other tree which had to be totally cut down. Because I'm in Canada, we don't have the same laws the UK does about home remedies. To control the black knot I sprayed all pruned areas and any fresh knot areas with 50-50 white vinegar and water. It seems to have checked the black knot. Will see what happens in spring. The same vinegar/water mix is excellent against fire blight.

[strangerachael]

In this month's GW magazine, Monty Don advises a laissez-faire approach to plums. Apparently it's better not to prune at all than to prune at the wrong time of year or in the wrong way. If you prune at the wrong time of year you risk exposing the plant to silver leaf and bacterial canker. I daren't touch mine  

[LilacSandy]

I have some trees at the entrance to my plot that were there when I took it over and they were over hanging the road and also where I wanted to put the shed.  As I was just starting and did not have a clue about pruning and pruning times I have just hacked it back over the last couple of years and this year I had a bumper crop.

Possibly beginers luck or very hardy trees.

[sunshineband]

I've always pruned Dad's plum tree after the fruit had been picked --- worked OK for years 'n years 

[Trillium]

I don't think plum trees are quite as sensitive to pruning as are apples and pears, which need a lot of specific, timely pruning to produce well, so I wouldn't overly worry about it. provided you don't prune them in dead of winter, you're okay.