"Baz" wrote in message
.. .
"David WE Roberts" wrote in
:


"Baz" wrote in message
...
I bought a rather battered Victoria plum tree yesterday for £1.99 and
if it
grows it grows. It has broken branches all over but is showing growth
on the remaining bits. The roots are showing growth too.

I have it in soak now in a bucket of water.

I want to give it a good start and would like to know whether to
plant it a
hole with compost or just soil with blood fish and bone (or any other
reccommendations)

I have read that using compost is not advised because the roots would
like to stay in this and not grow outwards into less fertile soil. I
have also read that compost is a must!

I have planted healthy bare rooted trees before, but not a "sickly"
one so I would like some advice please.
Oh, and because of broken branches would it be more prone to Silver
Leaf?


On the broken branch front - I would prune them to leave a clean cut
and paint the cut end with a specialist compound, or normal emulsion
if you have some spare.
Silver leaf is a risk (although I am not sure how much these days) but
anyway it is good hygiene to clean up breaks.
Best time to prune does not apply because the branches are already
damaged.

HTH

Dave R

Thankyou, Dave R,
The branches on this young tree are only at most 3mm(1/8 inch) thick.
Should I still do as you describe with cutting and emulsion?

I certainly will do it if needed.


If you haven't already, I would prune them.
Broken branches, however small, invite disease.
We were told (can't locate the source ATM) that standard emulsion was a good
substitute for Arbrex and generally better than not sealing the cut.
We have used it in the past with a Victoria and it has been O.K.
However we have also pruned without using a sealing compound and that has
worked as well.

Plum pruning time is about May to September normally when the tree is in
vigorous growth and so likely to heal quickly.
This is the opposite to apples and pears which are normally pruned when
dormant in the winter (although there are additional summer pruning routines
for the dedicated pruner).

Cheers

Dave R
--
No plan survives contact with the enemy.
[Not even bunny]

Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

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