Rejuvenating An Old Plum Tree With Hard Pruning
Back in 2018 I took a saw to my in-law's plum tree. Since the tree had not borne fruit in several years it was decision time. Instead of taking the tree down, they decided to let me try to bring the tree back into fruiting using hard pruning. Even the following spring the tree put out a few flowers, and even more in the spring of 2020. On the day I filmed this I decided just to take care of some growth on the trunk, but you'll see the large cuts I made and the impact they had on the tree overall. Hopefully this will inspire you to give your fruit trees another chance!
0:00 Where I Made Severe Cuts
1:21 Where Should A Severe Cut Be Made?
2:22 New Trunk Growth
3:09 First Flowers Following Severe Pruning
3:27 Pruning New Scaffold Branches
10:01 Trunk After Trimming
10:25 Why Try Saving An Old Plum Tree?
Пікірлер: 19
I'm trying to rescue some old trees in our small "orchard" so these tips are really handy. Many thanks!
Best memories eating plums from the trees !!!
Please post a follow up once it has fruit on it, thanks for sharing.
If the tree is old, you can prune it anytime. Best is in the dormant stage before flowering!
Mmmmm! Mom's Plum Jamdy! Huckleberry Pie, Blackberry Pie!!!
A healthy tree has foliage all the way down the trunk!
I would get a professional in the winter to come and cut off the top third of the tree. I'd prune everything growing straight up (water sprouts) on lower branches that you can reach.. You want light to be able to penetrate so it can get to the fruit growing on the interiors of branches. So you want space between the central leader and the outer scaffolding branches. I might keep the new lower branches which will fruit the second year.. Fruit only grows on 2nd year old wood. So saving those big old branches won't increase fruit production. You want the branches to be growing sideways if you want fruit. I would train the younger branches to do that. Water sprouts don't grow on branches that grow sideways as opposed to straight up.
do you know the variety of this plum tree of what kind of plums does it produce? To help with the pollination I would graft some other variety in the lower branches.
@HonestHomesteading
2 жыл бұрын
Unfortunately I don't know what variety this tree is. It did fruit this past year, but they are all dropping from the tree before they ever ripen - likely due to plum curculio. Not a bad idea though! I may graft one of the varieties I have to it to next time I visit to see if they fair any better!
Hello! Thanks for the video. Can I do this now? All of the fruit has fallen from our giant old plum tree. We need to do some massive cuts as it hasn’t been looked after for about 10 years and it is now hanging over the neighbour’s garden.
@HonestHomesteading
Жыл бұрын
Depending on your climate and plans for the tree, you probably can! Usually heavy pruning will signal the tree to start sending out shoots, so I try not to prune if we are within 2 months of first frost and I want to keep those shoots. I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
@diyayewoman
Жыл бұрын
@@HonestHomesteading thanks very much! I know my weekend job now! Unless we’re very unlucky, first frost won’t be until the end of November.
WHAT TIME OF YEAR DID YOU PRUNE?
@HonestHomesteading
Жыл бұрын
The pruning I did in this video was done in the middle of September, about 2 months prior to first frost.
Will it bear this year?
@HonestHomesteading
3 жыл бұрын
I can't say for sure, but I think it will. Sometimes plums and other fruit trees can go into biennial bearing where they work on growing one year and on fruiting the next, but usually that only happens if it doesn't get pruned or if fruit doesn't get thinned appropriately. With how much I took off, I think that even without touching it for a few years, we would see both growth and fruit for a few years before we would get back into a biennial pattern.
You left the suckers
you need a second tree so it can cross pollinate
@HonestHomesteading
2 жыл бұрын
Actually it depends on the variety - this one is self fertile.