To reap a generous harvest of plums, it is important to properly prune the tree in the spring. How to form a strong and fruitful tree with just a pruner, he told March 17 author of the Ukrainian YouTube channel “Korysne TV”.
The gardener noted that many are afraid to approach the plum tree with pruning shears, but without pruning, the tree simply “drives” vertical branches upward, on which almost no fruit is laid.
“I’m telling you how to make a tree work for a harvest,” the gardener emphasized.
Plum, like apricot, gives enormous growth per year. If a branch grows vertically upward, it does not form short branches on which the crop ripens. Only after the growth of the branch is stopped by pruning do the growth buds turn into fruit buds.
Step-by-step trimming instructions
- Thinning the crown should begin with the removal of all branches that grow inside the crown.
- The small fruit branches on the trunk do not need to be touched. Remove only full branches that create density.
- If the branches are rubbing against each other, one of them needs to be removed or redirected.
- Shorten the strongest central branch to the outer bud so that it continues to grow upward, but produces branching.
- Shorten them to the length of the pruning shears (approximately 25–30 cm).
- Always cut above the bud that faces outward from the tree. Make the cut 2 mm above the bud. Then the new branch will go to the side, the crown will be spreading, and the cut will be covered with bark in one season.
