wrote in message ...
: We have a large (for a family/garden) orchard of about 60 mixed apple,
: plum, pear and cherry trees. This year, having mostly caught up with
: the more serious things that need[ed] doing it looks as if we may
: actually have some time to do some pruning rather than just cutting
: off the dead bits.
:
: I've searched on the internet and have found some quite useful places
: describing how to prune but there seems to be a lot of disagreement
: about one thing - when should one prune plum (and cherry) trees?
:
: The issue is silver leaf disease but there's no agreement on when to
: prune to avoid it. Some sites say don't prune in winter, prune in
: May, however other sites say almost the opposite. I found one site
: that said "To avoid silver leaf disease, prune young trees in winter,
: mid-December is a good time. For older trees, avoid pruning in May and
: September to October." (What's 'young' and 'old'?)
:
: Vary confusing! I hope I don't start an interminable thread but I
: would really appreciate some guidance.

Plums (stone fruit)..late spring or summer to minimise getting silver leaf
or canker