How easy is it to pot plum trees?
By Treelady
United Kingdom 
My flowering plum tree has loads of new shoots growing from the ground all around her. I would like to pot one for a friends birthday this month. How do I go about it and when should she re plant it in her garden. The shoots are about 12 to 18" tall.
22 Jul, 2009
Featured on:
plums
Related photos
-
Jacque
-
Jacque
-
Jacque
-
Jacque
Related blogs
These are 'suckers'. The problem is that if the tree is a grafted one, then the suckers are from the rootstock and what you get as a tree is not going to be the same as the original grafted piece.
If it is not a grafted tree then there is another problem (one we have with the wild plums which are part of our hedge row) in that suckers almost always produce a tree which also suckers. In our case I spend a lot of time removing these from the borders along the inside of the hedge.
Still, to answer the question. Dig down until you find the origin of the piece you want. Sever the root from which it is growing a few inches above and below the sucker. Pot up in ordinary compost and it should continue to grow. You may do this any time from now onwards.
22 Jul, 2009