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Plum pruning in autumn is one of the mandatory procedures when caring for this fruit tree. It is necessary to understand why it is needed and according to what rules it should be carried out in order to contribute to the healthy development of the plum.
Goals of fall pruning plums
Pruning can be done throughout most of the year, with the exception of the winter frosts. However, any seasonal pruning has its own specific goals. For example, in spring, plum branches and shoots are pruned mainly in order to remove improperly developing parts. In summer, it is most convenient to form the beautiful outlines of the tree crown.
As for autumn pruning, its main goal is sanitary care for the plant. After the plum leaves fall, dried and damaged branches become especially visible, which will no longer be useful for the next year.
In addition, pruning in autumn protects the plum tree from damage. If too much snow falls on densely growing branches in winter, they can break, and accordingly, in the spring, the tree will have to be treated. After proper pruning, the plum tolerates snowfall calmly and continues confident and healthy growth in the spring.
When to Prune a Plum: Fall or Spring
Fall is not just an acceptable time to prune plums. Autumn work has its advantages, because of which many gardeners deliberately postpone the process until September. Namely:
- Autumn is the best time for sanitization. All dried or fungus-damaged branches are clearly visible, they are easy to remove.
- After autumn pruning, the plum leaves for winter dormancy, and the vegetation processes in it stop. Therefore, pruning does not slow down the development of the tree. Until spring, the places of cuts have time to overgrow, and the tree continues to grow without interference.
- In autumn, it is much easier to collect all the cut branches and fallen leaves and burn them so that a possible infection does not spread further.
Pruning plums in autumn: scheme and rules
The scheme of autumn pruning of a plum tree is as follows:
- The tree is carefully examined, identifying weak, dry, infected branches.
- After that, for all diseased areas, pruning is carried out.
- Fast-growing plum shoots are cut a little more than half – about 2/3.
- A young plum is shortened in height by about a third, if this pruning is the first for a fruit tree.
- The crown is thinned out, giving it the correct geometric shape.
After work is completed, all cut branches and foliage are collected and burned to prevent rotting and the spread of possible infections.
When forming the crown of a garden plum, it is recommended to choose the shape of the bowl – that is, leave several main skeletal branches extending from the main trunk at an angle of about 120 degrees. There should be a decent distance between these branches – at least half a meter.
When to prune a plum
Despite the fact that the autumn calendar lasts three months, plum pruning in autumn should be carried out in September. It is necessary to wait for leaf fall so that the branches of the tree are exposed.
However, it is impossible to delay the procedure too much – pruning is performed before the arrival of cold weather and frost. If pruned too late, the cuts on the plum will not have time to tighten, and frost will damage the health of the tree.
Fall pruning for beginners
As a rule, autumn pruning is carried out simultaneously in several forms:
- Sanitary pruning – aimed at removing diseased and infected branches.
- Forming pruning – to give the desired shape to the crown.
- Recovery pruning – in the process, branches that have dried up or broken during the spring-summer period are eliminated.
There are several ways to properly cut a plum in the fall.
- If you want to reduce the number of shoots and leave only the most promising of them, pruning is applied to the side shoot. It is necessary to select the strongest fruiting branch and cut the plum 2 – 3 mm above the place where the shoot is attached to the trunk.
- If you need to shorten the shoots a little, without cutting them off completely, “pruning to the kidney” is used. It is necessary to select a high-quality kidney in the right place of the escape, and then remove everything above it with a pruner at a cut angle of 45 degrees. In this case, the upper edge of the cut should be in line with the upper point of the selected kidney.
- If a diseased or dry branch needs to be removed entirely, then “cutting to a ring” is used. This means that the cutting line of the branch is not at the same level with the trunk, but at the level of a small annular thickening in the place where the branch is attached to the trunk.
Cutting a plum is only necessary with the right tools. You will need to arm yourself with a pruner and a lopper, a garden knife, a garden saw, and preferably two – more and less. For easy access to high-lying branches, a stepladder is useful.
After trimming, the places of cuts must be treated with a garden var or an ordinary solution of copper sulphate.
Is it possible to cut the crown of a plum
Beginning gardeners are often afraid to cut off the top for fear of damaging the entire tree. However, in fact, you can cut the plum from the crown – even necessary. Otherwise, the tree may grow too powerfully, and much more effort will have to be applied for pruning. In addition, the tops, which are not occupied in fruiting, interfere with the development of the plant with strong growth and negatively affect the yield.
Are plums pruned in winter
Plums are usually pruned in autumn, spring or summer – during the warm seasons of the year. However, winter pruning is sometimes practiced, which has the following advantages:
- There are no buds on the plum during this period, vegetation processes do not go on, respectively, the tree does not experience stress from pruning.
- Frozen shoots are sawn more easily; in the process of pruning, the so-called “bulliers” rarely occur – inaccurate splitting of wood near the cut point.
But of course, pruning a plum in winter is possible only under certain conditions. To perform work, it is better to choose mid-February, while a thaw with a temperature not lower, but preferably higher than + 10 degrees, is necessary. Thus, winter pruning is only suitable for southern regions with mild warm winters.
Feeding plums in autumn
After pruning in the fall, the plum must be fed. Fertilizers applied will help the tree recover from damage faster and enter the growing season in the healthiest possible state.
In autumn, it is customary to feed plums with three types of fertilizers, namely:
- wood ash – at the rate of 200 – 300 g of fertilizer for one tree. Ash saturates the root system with useful minerals and reduces the level of soil acidity.
- Potassium – in the amount of 100 g of dry composition per 10 liters of water. Fertilizer is applied not only under the trunk, but also branches and crown are sprayed with it. Potassium in the fall removes the maximum of liquid from the shoots and the trunk of the plum, thereby preventing winter freezing.
- Phosphorus – in the amount of 50 g per 1 sq. m around the trunk. Fertilizer strengthens the roots and helps the plum to better absorb protein and sugar compounds.
But with such organic fertilizers as manure, compost and bird droppings, it is not recommended to feed the plum in the fall after pruning. Organics release nitrogen, which provokes the growth of shoots – it is better to use such fertilizers in the spring.
Pruning and caring for plums in the fall, fertilizers help keep the plant as healthy as possible and ensure the successful development of plums in the spring.
How to Prepare a Plum for Winter
Pruning and top dressing are not the only activities that include quality plum preparation for winter.
- Watering. Before the onset of winter, it is necessary to bring enough moisture under the plum trunk, which will help the plant survive the winter. The amount of water is determined depending on the soil. If the groundwater lies close to the surface, then it is necessary to soak the earth around the trunk with water a meter deep, if the soil is dry enough, then two meters deep. Pre-winter watering is carried out before the arrival of frost, but after the leaves fall, and provided that there was little rain in the fall.
- Plum care in autumn includes mulching. After watering and fertilizing, the soil around the plum trunk is mulched – that is, sprinkled with a layer of mulch, covered with burlap in several layers, and then added with a small amount of earth. Mulching insulates the roots, retains moisture in them throughout the winter, and prevents the root system from freezing.
- In order to protect the plum stem from diseases, infections and pests, it bleached a special solution based on lime, mullein and clay. You can also add copper sulfate to the solution. First, the plum trunk is carefully treated with a scraper or brush, removing areas of old bark and growths, and then whitewashing is applied in an even layer.
- To avoid freezing, the plum trunk and the ground around the trunk for the winter insulate. For example, you can overlay the trunk with fir branches, wrap it with a layer of heat-insulating material. After the snow falls, it must be tightly trampled around the tree – the trampled snow layer will protect the roots from both frost and rodents.
Conclusion
Plum pruning in the fall is one of the most popular tree care options. If such a procedure is carried out at the right time and in accordance with all the rules, then it will be much more useful for a tree than spring or summer pruning.
