How to Reduce the Size of a Santa Rosa Plum Tree That has Grown Too Tall 

Glad it was helpful!

Glad you enjoyed it! Sunlight=heat=sugar production=tasty fruit.

Thanks! Don't miss Orin Martin's award winning book, "Fruit Trees for Every Garden: An Organic Approach to Growing Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Citrus, and More". His book won the 2020 American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award, recognizing outstanding gardening literature. You can purchase the book here: a.co/d/glwePid And here’s the playlist for all of the tree care videos: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-9ioGcl7gHgc.html

Glad it was helpful! Below is a link to several more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html

So true! Leaving a few "long" branches in the crown of the tree will help to slow the vigor of vertical growth. Good luck with you trees,

Yer welcome. Glad it was helpful. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html

Glad it was helpful!

Great to hear your getting a lot from Orin's videos. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html Don't miss Orin Martin's award winning book, "Fruit Trees for Every Garden: An Organic Approach to Growing Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Citrus, and More". His book won the 2020 American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award, recognizing outstanding gardening literature. You can purchase the book here: www.amazon.com/Fruit-Trees-Every-Garden-Approach/dp/0399580026/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3N8Y1MP3KB6DZ&keywords=orin+martin&qid=1650397395&s=books&sprefix=orin+martin%2Cstripbooks%2C522&sr=1-1

Which variety of cherry 🍒 plans you have?

Glad it was helpful. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html

did you not summer prune?

@@lydiaahubbell8545 No, I didn't prune it at all :), but I got it under control now. I pruned it last summer. Now it's looking good

Glad it was helpful! Here's a list of additional fruit tree videos. Scroll down to the section on trees: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html

Hi Leah, great to hear that the videos are helpful. Yes, you will lose some of the fruit production in the following year, but not a lot. If you don't lower the canopy of the tree, the fruit bearing wood will "migrate upwards" until much of the fruit will require a tall ladder to harvest - a dangerous was to pick fruit. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html Don't miss Orin Martin's award winning book, "Fruit Trees for Every Garden: An Organic Approach to Growing Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Citrus, and More". His book won the 2020 American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award, recognizing outstanding gardening literature. You can purchase the book here: www.amazon.com/Fruit-Trees-Every-Garden-Approach/dp/0399580026/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3N8Y1MP3KB6DZ&keywords=orin+martin&qid=1650397395&s=books&sprefix=orin+martin%2Cstripbooks%2C522&sr=1-1

χαιρετισμούς σε σας. Glad it was helpful. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html

And without a ladder!

Glad you think so!

Great video! When is the ideal time to prune in the summer? Looks like you did this post-harvest

@@Kay-xi9kv he mentioned full of buds so I’m not certain

@@Kay-xi9kv in other videos (one about apple tree pruning) he's talked about the proper time to summer prune and how to tell when it's the right time for it. I think it's between late August and September there in CA. Of course, it depends on your growing zone, too.

Glad it was helpful! Don't miss Orin Martin's award winning book, "Fruit Trees for Every Garden: An Organic Approach to Growing Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Citrus, and More". His book won the 2020 American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award, recognizing outstanding gardening literature. You can purchase the book here: a.co/d/agy9YpI

Welcome!

Glad it was helpful. Don't miss Orin Martin's award winning book, "Fruit Trees for Every Garden: An Organic Approach to Growing Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Citrus, and More". His book won the 2020 American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award, recognizing outstanding gardening literature. You can purchase the book here: a.co/d/glwePid And here’s the playlist for all of the tree care videos: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=9ioGcl7gHgc&list=PLdNOdHei9NV0QjOJDbUTx6wgD-qkiNGah

we do too! Thanks for watching!

Even on semi-dwarfing rootstock, a Santa Rosa plum is a vigorous grower and you'll need to continue to prune each year to keep it to 6 feet. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html Don't miss Orin Martin's award winning book, "Fruit Trees for Every Garden: An Organic Approach to Growing Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Citrus, and More". His book won the 2020 American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award, recognizing outstanding gardening literature. You can purchase the book here: www.amazon.com/Fruit-Trees-Every-Garden-Approach/dp/0399580026/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3N8Y1MP3KB6DZ&keywords=orin+martin&qid=1650397395&s=books&sprefix=orin+martin%2Cstripbooks%2C522&sr=1-1

@@ucscagroecology Thx, can’t wait to watch when our internet is back up. 🙏

Sorry, we don't a video on scale and curl. May have one in the future.

Thanks for the kind words. Glad it was helpful. Seems that the "critters" love fruit as much as us humans. Covering them is sometimes the only way to have anything left to pick. Best of luck with yer trees.

Hi Wayne, yer welcome! Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html Don't miss Orin Martin's award winning book, "Fruit Trees for Every Garden: An Organic Approach to Growing Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Citrus, and More". His book won the 2020 American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award, recognizing outstanding gardening literature. You can purchase the book here: www.amazon.com/Fruit-Trees-Every-Garden-Approach/dp/0399580026/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3N8Y1MP3KB6DZ&keywords=orin+martin&qid=1650397395&s=books&sprefix=orin+martin%2Cstripbooks%2C522&sr=1-1

You are welcome! Without seeing the tree it's difficult to determine why it isn't fruiting, but one of the most common causes of plum trees not producing fruit after blossom time is the lack of a co-pollinator. Plums are not self-fruitful and need another plum tree nearby of a different variety for pollen transfer. This is done with bees, moths, and other pollinator's help. Don't miss Orin Martin's award winning book, "Fruit Trees for Every Garden: An Organic Approach to Growing Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Citrus, and More". His book won the 2020 American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award, recognizing outstanding gardening literature. You can purchase the book here: a.co/d/glwePid And here’s the playlist for all of the tree care videos: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=9ioGcl7gHgc&list=PLdNOdHei9NV0QjOJDbUTx6wgD-qkiNGah

Glad you like them! Thanks for watching.

Great thing about fruit trees...most the time you can correct pruning mistakes over a few seasons and get the tree shape and growing as you like.

Glad you like them!

Hmmm...our climate in Santa Cruz is pretty similar to San Diego in the summer. What diseases have your trees gotten from summer pruning?

Stores with Japanese pruning tools.

I use ARS long-reach pruners, they come in fixed and extendable. Head styles of lopper, pruner, and grab and hold pruner. Expensive, but I use them all the time

Costco sells a Fiskars long pole saw in the spring for around 50-60$

many people, including me, want to know.

You need to thin the fruit to get larger size, I take about 30% of the fruit out once it is set, removing any that are small, damaged, crowded, first. It is good you are watching this video, he is a master.

Yer welcome! During Covid, the farm was closed and the trees didn't get pruned. If you prune every year, you can easily keep the height to 12 feet. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html

Yes, this type of pruning is appropriate for reducing the size of a tree that has become too tall. It can also be used to reinvigorate a tree that has been slow to grow and bare fruit. Here's a series of videos that demonstrates how to reinvigorate a fuji apple with severe pruning. Within a year, the fuji was twice it's "pre-pruned" size and it's now quite vigorous: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ME7-JlR7qHA.html

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Thanks!

Probably best to wait until the tree has gone into winter dormancy...it will have lost most or all of its leaves. These videos may help: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-p_-f610rFEU.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-p_-f610rFEU.html

Summer is usually the best time to prune plums.

Sorry, but that pruner was purchased some 20 years ago. It doesn't have a label and no one can remember the brand name or where it was purchased. Below is a similar pruner made by ARS. We haven't tested that ARS pruner, but we have dozens of ARS pruners of smaller sizes and ARS makes exceptionally good quality tools. gemplers.com/products/ars-longreach-loppers?currency=USD&variant=21171439435865&Google%20Shopping&stkn=cef260d508aa&{cname}&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0MexBhD3ARIsAEI3WHJS8BZxq_2rHYmB_hmrU-eSKBIYTTwnRx_InwQUUi0WRHMke1M6GwQaAqrWEALw_wcB

With an open center form, the sunlight is pretty well distributed (that's the whole point of the open center form) during the summer when the sun is high in the sky as long as the tree is out of any shade and in full sunlight. During the winter when the sun is low, there is probably more light hitting the southern side of the tree. But during winter, the tree is dormant and there are no leaves producing photosynthesis and sunlight is not a factor. So...there isn't consideration given to the directions of the compass when pruning.

Plums are really vigorous growers. Leaving a few "longer" branches in the crown will help to retard growth. Good luck with your tree!

Depends on how much you need to cut off to eliminate the shade. If it's only a few feet, then you could do it all in a single winter pruning. If you need to reduce it by 5 or more feet, probably best to do it over two winters. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html

Thank you. To eliminate shading my greenhouse, I would like to reduce my plum trees growth from its actual height down to it’s effective height in summer to avoid Silver leaf disease. Would this be acceptable or would this induce vegetative growth or stop fruit production the following year please?

Depends on how big you let your trees grow. If you have a 10 foot tree, 8-10 feet in-row spacing is good. The spacing between rows, sometimes called "alley ways", depends on whether or not yer going to drive a tractor down the alley ways for cultivation and such. Then the alley way spacing depends on the width of your tractor. If you're working by hand, then you can space the alleys about 8-10 feet. Hope this helps. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html Don't miss Orin Martin's award winning book, "Fruit Trees for Every Garden: An Organic Approach to Growing Apples, Pears, Peaches, Plums, Citrus, and More". His book won the 2020 American Horticultural Society (AHS) Award, recognizing outstanding gardening literature. You can purchase the book here: www.amazon.com/Fruit-Trees-Every-Garden-Approach/dp/0399580026/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3N8Y1MP3KB6DZ&keywords=orin+martin&qid=1650397395&s=books&sprefix=orin+martin%2Cstripbooks%2C522&sr=1-1

Late summer after the tree has dropped any remaining fruit.

By runners I assume you mean the "sprouts" that come out of the ground around the base of the trunk. These should be cut off just about the ground a couple of times a year.

Many sprouts come up from the base of the trunk and even feet away from the trunk. Wondering if I did something wrong in its early years or if that’s just the way plum trees grow.

Sorry, but we don't have any fig trees on our farm.

Star Garden Supply 8215 Industry Ave, Pico Rivera, CA 90660 (562) 806-1851 no website

@@ucscagroecology should we put anything over the open cuts where the limbs have been removed? Or does the tree itself seal her self? Thanks for responding. I will make a video of my trees and maybe you can let me know what else I need to take off. I only opened the older one up and I followed what I heard only a 1/3 off at a time.

You can prune the day you plant it. Here's a series of videos on pruning just planted pear trees. The pruning would be very similar with a plum tree.

Pears react very similar to apples. Here''s a link to a list of videos by Orin. There are several videos on pear trees. Hope this helps. agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html

Sounds like a good idea, but most of our trees are patented varieties that we purchased and selling them would be illegal. Also, all of trees at the farm are on semi dwarfing or dwarfing rootstock. If you sprout roots from the scion (the part of the tree above the rootstock union), you won't have a tree on dwarfing rootstock and you'd wind up with trees that would growth 20-40 feet tall....way too tall to care for.

Below is a link to several more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html Good luck with you trees!