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Prune flowering plum trees


What Month Can I Prune a Flowering Plum? | Home Guides

By Jasey Kelly

The Prunus genus contains flowering cherries, plums and almonds, not to mention the fruit-bearing varieties. Many of the flowering plums (Prunus spp.) grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 through 8, although there are variances. Most flowering plums don't require regular pruning, although certain circumstances may require pruning. You can prune in nearly any month, except during late summer or early fall, without damaging the tree's overall health, although one time of year is always best.

Bloom Time

  1. Like their close relatives, flowering plums explode with blooms in springtime, often before the leaves emerge. The profusion of blooms is what has solidified most ornamental Prunus species as staples in the landscape. Because these trees bloom early in spring, they bloom on the previous year's growth. They begin setting their flower buds in summer and autumn. To prevent removing any flower buds, prune just after flowering, in spring or early summer.

Damaged Wood

  1. While pruning just after flowering is your best bet for overall pruning, remove any damaged, dead, broken or diseased limbs whenever you find them. Damaged and broken limbs drain energy from the tree that could otherwise be spent on healthier areas. Diseases can quickly spread through the tree if the affected area remains intact. Dead limbs can help spread disease; they can also break or cause other damage to the tree.

Training Young Trees

  1. Pruning for a desired shape is best accomplished when the tree is young. Most ornamental flowering plums have an acceptable and desirable shape as is, although you may notice branches growing the wrong way. Prune out any branches that are rubbing other branches, those that are growing at an upright, narrow angle from the main trunk, and those that are growing inward. Perform this type of pruning either in late winter or just after blooming.

Dormant Inspection

  1. During late winter, inspect your flowering plum for branches that might need to be removed either for size or shape control. Winter is ideal for this type of inspection because the tree is in its dormancy; no leaves or flowers are blocking sight of the branching pattern. You may prune the flowering plum during this time if you wish, but beware that doing so might result in a lack of blooms the following spring.

References

Writer Bio

With a professional background in gardening, landscapes, pests and natural ecosystems, Jasey Kelly has been sharing her knowledge through writing since 2009 and has served as an expert writer in these fields. Kelly's background also includes childcare, and animal rescue and care.

Flowering Plum Tree Pruning | Home Guides

By Teri Silver

Pruning ornamental plum trees (Prunus spp.) encourages new growth, fragrant flowers and healthy fruits. Depending on cultivar and variety, plum trees grown in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 to 10 and other areas of the world feature brightly colored leaves, pink or white flowers and berrylike or pitted fruits. Removing dead or diseased limbs, faded flowers and underdeveloped fruits from flowering plum trees will improve their appearance and growth.

Why Prune?

  1. Pruning ornamental plum trees promotes healthy plant tissues, as dead or dying branches and limbs may carry fungal diseases and insect infestations. Strong winds can tear storm-damaged branches. Pruning an ornamental plum tree encourages flower bud and fruit growth, but also maintains the plant’s size and shape, especially in hedges and landscapes. Pruning trees regularly not only improves appearance, it keeps them from becoming safety hazards.

When to Prune

  1. The best time to begin a pruning regimen of any tree is at the planting, notes the University of Minnesota Extension. Flowering plum trees must develop strong, woody trunks. Cutting back weak offshoots, dead, crossed or broken branches and lower limbs during the plant’s dormancy widens and strengthens the center stem. For growing plum trees, dormancy, flowering and fruiting habits determine when they can be pruned. For example, Cherry Plum (P. cerasifera) trees develop buds during the previous year and then bloom in spring before the end of June. Spring bloomers should be trimmed after flowers have dropped. Summertime-blooming plum trees must be pruned the following winter or early spring. Winter bloomers, such as P. mexicana, may be trimmed after fruits are harvested in early fall.

Tools

  1. Pruning tools come in different shapes and sizes. Clippers for smaller tree branches include scissor-action pruners with sharp blades that slide into thicker blades, and straight-anvil shears which contain a sharp blade that slices against an acute, broadened edge. Lopping shears have larger scissor-like blades with longer handles. Curved pruning saws with rough-edged teeth are good for branches thicker than one inch. Pole pruners are used for large branches that are high off the ground, with a saw and crescent-shaped cutting blade and a rope to pull the blade over the unwanted branch. Do not use hedge shears to prune trees, advises Clemson University Extension. Sharpen and oil your pruning tools at the end of each season.

Ways to Prune

  1. Three basic ways to prune are pinching, thinning and crown reduction. Pinching flower heads and twiggy offshoots by hand will help to control the plant’s size. “Thinning” removes stems and weak limbs from main branches or tree trunks. Thinning flowering plum trees helps them to absorb light and circulated air. Cutting back to a bud, lateral branch or the main trunk allows the wound to heal quickly. When removing large limbs, you can make three separate cuts around the branch to keep the bark from stripping off. Crown reduction -- the removal of large branches at the top of tree -- controls the plant height, shape and canopy.

Fruit Thinning

  1. Trees with small branches are healthier without too many drupes weighing them down. Underdeveloped fruits may keep plum trees from bearing each year so thinning back flower heads and buds encourages growth. Removing small, weak drupes allows growing plums more room to soak up the sunlight. Removing diseased fruits keeps fungi or brown rot, for examples, from spreading to mature plums. Stone fruits such as plums, peaches, nectarines and cherries must be thinned between early April to mid May, depending on their time of harvest. The amount of fruits to thin depends on cultivar, size and crop yield.

References

Resources

Writer Bio

Teri Silver began a career in 1984 as a news, sports and feature writer/reporter, anchor, editor, producer and program host for central Ohio radio and television stations. She has done work for stations including WTVN, WMNI and WOSU (NPR). Silver has a Bachelor of Arts in journalism with an English minor from The Ohio State University.

Proper plum cutting - tips for beginners (diagrams, photos, videos)

The formation of a plum crown is not easy and very important. If the tree is not pruned correctly, the harvest will be poor. To prevent this from happening, find out how and when to prune plums in the garden.

Pruning and shaping of plums is carried out to increase fruiting. A thickened crown negatively affects the condition of the plant. The tree becomes sensitive to cold, in winter it risks freezing. Excess branches create a shadow and thus prevent the proper formation of fruits.

Young plums are pruned for the first time at the moment of planting, after which they are done regularly throughout the life of the plant. At the same time, the crown is formed up to about 15 years, and then only dry and diseased branches are removed, young shoots are not touched. Then the tree bears fruit well even in old age.

Plum pruning in spring

The most important pruning of the plant is in the spring. The tree is pruned in late March - early April, when the frosts have already passed, but the buds of the plant have not yet woken up and sap flow has not begun. In the spring, all frozen, damaged and improperly growing (inside the crown) branches are cut into the ring, and the crown is thinned out and the growth of the previous year is shortened by 1/3. It is on these shoots that the plum will bear fruit.

Plum pruning scheme in spring

In the southern regions, you can start pruning plums in late February - early March, but the air temperature should not be lower than 10°C.

How to properly remove unwanted branches from a tree in spring is shown in a very informative video of plum pruning.

During the first five years, a sparse-tiered crown is formed. In the first year, a trunk zone is measured on a seedling (40-60 cm from the ground), 6-7 more buds are counted above it and the top is cut off. In the second year, the first tier is formed from the buds located above the trunk. 2-4 well-located lower shoots are left on the tree, extending from the trunk at an angle of at least 60 degrees. All shoots that appear in the trunk area are regularly cut into a ring.

A year or two later, a second tier is laid above the first tier, consisting of 1-2 branches (at a height of 20-30 cm from the upper branch of the first tier). If necessary, a third tier of 1-2 branches is also formed above.

It is also possible to shape the crown into a bowl. At the same time, 3-4 main branches are left, which are located relative to the trunk at an angle of 60-90 degrees at a height of 40-50 cm from the ground. The central conductor is cut out during this shaping.

Plum pruning is carried out with a sharp pruner, and all cuts are treated with garden pitch.

Summer pruning of plums

Pruning of plums in summer is carried out when planting a seedling. In this case, the main trunk (central conductor) is cut by 1/3, and the side branches are shortened by 2/3.

Mature plants are pruned in June-July. Summer pruning is predominantly sanitary in nature: branches are removed that have frozen during the winter, but were not recognized as damaged during spring pruning. Now, when flowers and fruits have not formed on these shoots, they can be safely cut out.

Also, in summer, young, strictly vertical shoots are cut into a ring (you can break them off with your hands) and branches, on which signs of disease have appeared.

And shoots growing horizontally are left.

Cuts of young shoots heal quickly, so they do not need to be covered with garden pitch.

How to prune a plum in the summer, see the following video:

Plum pruning in autumn

The tree is pruned in mid-September - early October (after leaf fall) so that it has time to prepare for wintering. Long and fast-growing branches are shortened by a third so that they do not break under the weight of snow and gusty winds. If necessary, you can shorten the top of the tree. All damaged and broken shoots are also cut out, since they are more susceptible to frost than others. In addition, dry and diseased branches are pruned at the old plum at this time.

All plum shoots removed in autumn should be burned, because dangerous pests can settle in them for the winter.

In regions with mild winters, not only sanitary, but also formative pruning can be carried out in autumn. However, in the unstable climate of the middle zone, it is better to postpone this matter until spring.

Peculiarities of pruning an old plum tree

When new shoots stop growing on an old tree, old skeletal branches are cut down in early spring, and the places of cuts are carefully cleaned and covered with garden pitch. New shoots soon form at the cut site, of which only 3 or 4 of the strongest are left, the rest are removed in the middle of summer.

Please note: It is not recommended to prune a large number of old branches at the same time. Otherwise, the tree will not survive such severe stress and will die. Anti-aging pruning is best stretched for 2-3 years.

Columnar plum pruning

The columnar plum has a compact crown. The fruits on such a tree do not grow on spreading branches, but along the trunk, so the side shoots are useless. They are pruned annually.

At the same time, it is important to completely preserve the central conductor of the tree; it is not touched at all. If the top of the main shoot freezes, then additional shoots (two or three) will grow in this place over time. In this case, one, the most developed, is left, and the rest are removed.

To get a good harvest of fruits, you need not only to cut the plum correctly, but also to properly care for the tree throughout the year. Read about the intricacies of caring for this plant in our previous article.

Peculiarities of plum tree pruning in different seasons

Contents:

Plum pruning in autumn, as well as in summer and spring, is aimed at increasing the fruitfulness of the tree. After all, getting a bountiful harvest is the goal of every gardener. Inexperienced homeowners often ignore this procedure. Indeed, at first glance, pruning this tree is not needed. It seems that the plum has a rather modest size compared to the pear or apple tree. This approach is fundamentally wrong. Plum, having a small size, is very fond of intertwining its branches, which not only reduces fruitfulness, but can also harm the tree.

Pruning targets

Forming a chaotic weave of branches, the plum becomes sensitive to cold. Ice may form on the branches, eventually breaking the branches.

In addition, by forming various branches, the plant strongly thickens its crown. That is, a shadow is formed, which not only interferes with the normal formation of fruits, but also prevents new fruitful branches from growing. Over time, the tree withers and may even die. There is no mention of any harvest.

Regular and correct pruning of the tree, aimed mainly at the formation of the crown. It is recommended to carry out this event from the moment the seedling is planted and throughout the life of the plant. This way you will be able to get properly growing branches. This will not only make harvesting easier, but will also give your garden an aesthetic and well-groomed look.

Peculiarities of spring pruning of plums

According to experienced gardeners, spring is the most favorable time for pruning plums. It is recommended to do this at the end of March or beginning of April . At this time of the year, there are usually no more severe night frosts, but there is still no movement of sap from the trees.

Plum pruning takes place in the spring according to the following scheme:

For work, a garden saw or pruner is usually used. All sections must be treated with garden pitch. This will help the tree to more comfortably endure the intervention and not get sick.

The formation of a plum crown is as follows. As a frame, it is recommended to leave 5-6 of the strongest branches. Their ideal location should be in the correct inclination relative to the trunk. The optimal angle of inclination should be about 50 degrees. The branches should grow in different directions, and the distance between them should vary within twenty centimeters.

Features of summer plum pruning

In summer, plums are pruned in June or July . These works are carried out on young trees. They are not only formative, but also sanitary in nature.

Summer pruning starts from the moment the seedling is planted. In the first year, all branches are cut by about 20 centimeters. In subsequent years, the procedure is repeated, only all excess shoots are removed to the ground.

Plum pruning at this time of the year has its advantages. For example, looking at a leafy crown, it is easy to visually determine whether it is thickened or not. This allows not only to plan the scheme of work, but also to assess the degree of their need.

If tree branches are affected by the disease, then in the warm season the infection can spread to other plants. Therefore, cutting branches at this time of the year, you also perform preventive actions aimed at the health of the entire backyard.

Features of autumn plum pruning

In autumn, plum pruning is carried out so that the tree is better prepared for winter. This is usually done at the beginning or middle of September . This way the tree will have enough time to prepare for the winter cold.

Before the winter period, the correct pruning consists mainly in the formation of the crown. This is done so that too long branches do not break under the influence of frost and strong winds.

The scheme of the procedure looks like this:

This way the plum will get rid of all diseased or damaged branches. Indeed, in the winter cold, it is the damaged or broken branches that are most susceptible to frost. If plum pruning was not done in autumn, then in spring, instead of a flowering tree, you can see a stunted shrub.

It is recommended to burn all branches removed in autumn.

How to trim an old plum

Trimming an old plum is a very important undertaking. Plum trees are recommended to be pruned within 15 years. The procedure is carried out until the tree reaches the maximum possible height for its species. Usually it is about 2.5-3 meters. After that, the trunk and frame branches are shortened, which serve as the basis for the crown.

Old trees, like older people, need special care. To care for an old plum, a rejuvenating pruning scheme is mainly used. To do this, only dry and diseased branches are removed, the young shoots are not touched. This allows the tree to bear fruit perfectly even in old age.

Experienced gardeners plan rejuvenating pruning at the beginning of spring. First, excess frame branches are removed. Since they usually differ in large diameter compared to the rest, they are usually cut from two sides. This is done so that the saw cut is even.

If sawing from one side only, the branch may break off under its own weight. It is known that cut branches are more easily perceived by a tree than broken ones. This precaution is very relevant when working with old trees. All saw cuts are necessarily processed with garden pitch.

Soon, young shoots will begin to appear on the saw cuts. In order not to overload the tree, it is recommended to leave the two or three strongest ones, and prune the rest in the middle of summer.

It is worth considering the fact that rejuvenation pruning is usually divided into several stages and carried out over 3-4 years. If everything is done in one season, the old plant may simply not endure the stress and finally wither away. Properly carried out event will help the tree to bear fruit for several more years.

Advice for beginner gardeners

  1. When the plum tree begins to bear fruit for the first time, pruning is not recommended. In extreme cases, you can limit yourself to minimal and selective shortening of problematic branches.

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