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Old 12-07-2010, 04:17 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
David WE Roberts[_2_] David WE Roberts[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Mar 2010
Posts: 185
Default Try again: plum tree


"Another John" wrote in message
...
Howdy

A few days ago I posted a question about what to do about our 3-year old
plum tree. No replies that I've seen, so maybe there's no comment to be
made ... but on the off-chance...

Plum tree is 3 years old. About 4 plums last year. NO plums this year
-- but a huge amount of bushy growth in all directions.

Question: should I be pruning it furiously right now, while the bushy
growth is rampant?

[I can't remember what variety it is, but I'd guess that it's a
Victoria, since we're not fruit growers as such, and we'd just have gone
for the bog-standard favourite.]



Is there any particular reason why you want to prune it?
IIRC in the early years you can do minor stuff to shape the tree, but major
pruning of plums is not a regular thing (unlike, for instace, apples).

Plums are a bit fickle until they get established and a cold start to the
year can also cause problems with setting fruit.
Was there plenty of blossom?

Cheers

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder