On 03/09/2014 14:10, Ophelia wrote:


"Ophelia" wrote in message
...

They would have been ideal if the torn stub was at the top of the
tree; alas, it is nearer the bottom, as in your first plum pic.
Sorry, you'll probably have to take another pic tomorrow now! :~(.
I'll look in tomorrow.

I took several pics until I realised it might be this bit: ?

http://tinypic.com/m/i70d1v/3



Thanks for that, Ophelia. That could very well be it. I thought it was
even more torn than that but, once you start pruning all the stubs out,
you will either recognise another bad tear (if it's there), or have
pruned all the bad stuff out. You can see from your pic how a bad cut
dies back instead of healing over. If you don't cut back to the collar,
that tissue damage will keep dying back until it meets the collar.
Although collars do heal when the cut is correct, a very bad case of
dieback can just keep going. In this case, it will enter the trunk:~(.
This is why it's so important to make the cut in the right place.
Good luck with your pruning. Don't worry about using a sealant paint on
the cuts you leave (they're as capable of sealing gremlins in as sealing
them out); just keep your tools clean as you work - and after you've
finished.

I'll look in later just in case you have any worries.
Lovely sunny day here, so I'm off to mow my lawn.
--
Spider.
On high ground in SE London
gardening on heavy clay