"David WE Roberts" wrote in
:



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

Thanks, Dave

I will tend to it when the rain stops (been raining non-stop here since
late last night).

Baz