By Gjn
Hi,
I have a plum tree which is now 6 years old. It fruited very well last year but at the end of the season I had to give it a hard pruning because it was just getting too big for our garden and also overhanging the fence. This year it is a good shape and about 10 ft high, pleny of foliage but alas no fruit due, I suspect, to the pruning. My question is this - there is lots of new growth this year around 18 inches to 2 ft long. Should I cut these off and if so, when? Grateful for any advice and thanks in advance.
Regards,
Graham.
15 Jul, 2013
Answers
We have a few plum trees, and I'm not sure if they are all the same, but all of ours fruits in a definite 2 year cycle - feast or famine. Along with the pruning, this might be part of the answer. We pruned our very overgrown cherry tree last year, and it gave us a fantastic harvest this year - not so many, but much bigger and tastier fruits, so I imagine your plum will reward you similarly in coming years. Don't take the new growth off, that's a future fruit-bearing bit.
16 Jul, 2013
I would say no. Your tree is making up the growth you cut off. Plums/gages/cherries generally aren't pruned unless it becomes necessary, for the very reason you've described (no fruit), and for potential exposure to disease. They fruit on more mature wood, so if you cut off the new growth it'll have to make it again and you'll have the same problem.
15 Jul, 2013