Plum tree: when and how to prune

Plum tree: when to prune it?

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In summer the tree is in full growth and wounds close quickly; the fungus that causes silver leaf releases its spores mainly in autumn and winter, in damp weather.

Shape a young tree in June. Prune a fruiting tree after picking, in July or August, once there is no more fruit on it.

Prune on a dry day, with a few more dry days in the forecast.

What else to prune in those months? June · July · August

Plum tree: how to prune it?

1. Remove dead, diseased and crossing branches, and branches growing inwards.
2. In the first few years, give a young tree an open crown with three or four main branches.
3. Cut a branch back to a side branch or the trunk, without a stub; avoid large wounds, as a plum heals them poorly.
4. Do you see silvery, lead-coloured leaves, or a brown stain in the wood of a branch? That is silver leaf: saw the branch off well into the healthy, pale wood and disinfect your saw.
5. If the branches are heavily laden, thin the fruit in June and prop up heavy branches: plum branches break easily.

How much to cut, and how often?

• Prune little: a plum fruits on last year’s wood and older, and responds to hard pruning with water shoots and gum.
• Remove at most a quarter of the crown a year, and preferably less.
• Renovate an old, neglected tree over several summers, a few branches at a time.

What does it mean for wildlife?

• The white blossom in April is early food for bees and bumblebees.
• Summer pruning falls in the nesting season (15 March–15 August): chaffinches, blackbirds and whitethroats like to nest in fruit trees. Check first for an active nest in the crown, as disturbing it is against the law; prune after mid-August and you are outside it.
• Leave some windfalls: butterflies such as the red admiral drink from ripe plums, and blackbirds and thrushes eat them.
• The leaves feed the caterpillars of various moths, and prunings free of silver leaf can go on a dead hedge.

Common mistakes

• Pruning in autumn or winter, which lets silver leaf in.
• Pruning in wet weather, so the wounds stay damp for a long time.
• Sawing off large branches in one go, resulting in large wounds and lots of gum.
• Only partly removing branches with silver leaf, or not disinfecting the saw afterwards.

Nearby: related pruning guides

• Cherry tree
• Morello cherry
• Peach tree
• Apricot tree
• Apple tree

Similar to: Difference from apricot · Difference from apple · Difference from cherry plum · Difference from blackthorn · Difference from wild cherry

Plant profile: Plum tree · Pruning calendar and basic rules