Pruning Plum Trees | Pruning Fruit Trees Without Fear! 

Thanks Abid. We're hopeful these can help everyone out there be more confident when pruning their trees!

Thanks Kylan. You're always so encouraging to us!

Thank you so much for those kind words. It's folks like you that keep us doing this. I'm glad to hear we can be an inspiration to others when so many things around us try to drag us down!

Thank you for all your hard work. God bless you all.

DAZ!!!!! It's funny, I immediately think of you and a few other Aussie viewers we hear from when I think of warm temps during our "Winter". So naturally, my slip up with June vs January lead me to think of you. It was great getting a chance to say hi on your Livestream. What a great community you have surrounding you there!

Glad you enjoyed this one and are seeing similar results. Next to irrigation, pruning is what we tend to get the most questions on. Most folks are nervous to prune thinking they're either hurting the tree or production when it's just the opposite!

Not exactly sure what I was thinking there!

Thanks Juani. One of the reasons we do this is to encourage everyone else to grow their own food. It's so important in the world we live in today!

You couldn't be more right!

Woohoo!! We're not too far behind you. The only straggler after this weekend will be the grapevines who are still hanging onto those last few leaves of Winter.

Thank you Kyle, glad you enjoyed the video and found it useful!

Hey Buchan! I'm glad to hear these are beneficial and encouraging for you. New Mexico is a TOUGH environment for growing. That makes success that much sweeter!

That's what we're hoping for as well Chet. Usually the aggressive pruning equates to abundant harvests in the future!

Glad you enjoyed this one Devar. It sounds like you've done this a time or two!

Glad you found this one useful. Good luck with that pruning!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you very much. I am a newbie to all this

Thanks for the note here Marcus. It's a bit different for us here in the Southwest, but folks need to know it varies a bit based on where you're located!

Glad you enjoyed this one Paul. Did you get some pruning done on your orchard? I imagine those peach trees are about ready to burst to life if they haven't done so already!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Yes, I got it done last Sunday. A lot of the trees are still pretty small so there wasn't much to do but I gave them all a clipping. I'll let you know when they start to bloom.

Glad you enjoyed this one!

Great questions and we've addressed those in prior pruning videos, so I didn't cover them here, but it's a great suggestion. Quickly, the open center is primarily for air flow and even ripening of fruit growing inside the center of the tree (sunlight is needed for even ripening). Downward branches can wind up reaching the ground with fruit set causing damage to the branch and fruit. Crossing branches will eventually damage each other and can encourage infection.

Hey bud ive just planted some can plumb trees and they are 2 years old is it a bad idea to cut them to cheast hight or waist hight? What do you recommend would love to hear youre recommendations

Glad you found this one useful Paul!

That's a great idea with the weights!

Glad you enjoyed this one!

Glad you enjoyed this one!

Glad you found this one useful Cecil!

Glad you enjoyed this one Chris Ann!

Thanks Martin!

Glad you enjoyed this one and found it useful!

خوشحالم که از مطالب لذت می برید. با تشکر از شما برای اشتراک!

Great question Kay and it depends. If you're here in AZ or a similar environment you should have very little concern. We had rain last week not long after pruning some trees and they are healing over just fine. The reality for us is we're in the low double digits when it comes to humidity, so even with rain we are still very dry within a day or two. With that the cuts "harden off" within a few days eliminating the concern for infection. Complete healing is dependent on the tree growth, but usually that's within a year or two.

Glad you enjoyed this one and found it useful!

Great question/suggestion here Tig Time. I'm confident we'll have that in one of our Spring vlogs. We should be pruning those here next weekend, so it's only a few more weeks until bud break for those!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm my vine buds are white and fuzzy, a little bigger every few days. You're videos are really helpful. Thank you

Those pesky adverbs!

Great question Scott. We do our best to train the trees with pruning only, but have attempted a few options otherwise, usually with braces in the branches themselves. The issue we have here is very strong wind that would be a problem when tying branches to a fixed object on the ground.

Glad you enjoyed this one. It's a daunting task until you've been through it a few times. As for pruning style, this would work in VT as well. It's the standard method of pruning for pretty much all stone fruit and you would actually benefit more from this than we do. It's particularly good for high moisture environments where fungus can be an issue. It also allows more light penetration which will help with your shorter growing season.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm awesome! you are making me excited for this!

Hey Ralph. Great question. We did an episode on this a while back that I'll link for you here that discusses why we paint those tree trunks; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bCe3UZI-GvY.html

Hey Nancy. It should be in the episode description section, but I can link it for you here. They will be under the pruning/cultivating supplies tab; www.amazon.com/shop/edgeofnowherefarm Feel free to use this link anytime you shop Amazon. Whether you buy from the storefront or anything else after using the link we get a small commission on your purchase!

The general rule of thumb is to remove no more than about 30% of total tree mass in any given pruning season. We were a bit more aggressive with these younger, very fast growing trees, so keep that in mind.

We'll keep updates on these trees as they progress. You will get some water sprouts that will need to be managed, but it should also induce spurring which, for plums, is a very good thing!

Glad you enjoyed this one and solid suggestion on the tools. We do have many of them in our Amazon shop, but a closer review would make sense. Thank you!

That's always a good idea to help direct growth. For trees this age we were more focused on scaffold selection and bringing down the overall height, but on the branches we are keeping an outward facing bud is what you need to look for to help direct those.

I'm not familiar with that particular variety, but the Santa Rosa is our go-to for cross pollination. We have 2 on the property to cross a few other plum hybrids as well. As for the pruning of the trunk, you can definitely cut it back, but I would wait until it's dormant....assuming you're here in AZ and it has broken dormancy at this point.

Hey there Eric. You are absolutely correct with most folks being hesitant to heavily prune young trees. It's one of the many reasons we get called for consultations on fruit trees that stop bearing after several years! As for your young trees, we usually wait until the Winter following their planting date to prune them. Since you're putting them in now, that would be sometime next Winter. Good luck with those trees!

Hey Dan. Saw your email and will respond over there. Really frustrated for you guys on this one...

Hey there! Glad you're enjoying the content and finding it useful. Pruning can be a bit challenging, especially for fruit trees and plum trees have a couple of unique challenges. Whenever I'm looking at a plum tree (or any other fruit tree) I'm always trying to keep a few things in mind. First is taking out any dead and/or crossing branches. These can be an avenue for disease. Next is removing any branching that is pointing either towards the middle of the tree or towards the ground. Both of these can eventually damage branching. Production is the next thing I look for. If it's a younger tree you'll want to remove some of the fruiting wood so the tree can concentrate on growth before production. If it's an established tree I'm looking to balance the potential fruit load on the tree by taking out heavy clusters of fruiting spurs and branching. The key here is balance. Too much fruit on any given branch or one side of the tree can cause branches to break and could potentially kill the tree if the branch is large enough and splits the trunk. One last thing, try to keep the total amount of pruned branching to no more than about 30% of total above ground mass. Too much pruning can stress the tree and potentially kill it. This is especially true if it's a slow growing tree. Beyond these it's really up to you. I like to keep all of our trees balanced on 3-4 scaffold branches with an open center. This can be challenging with SR plums as the trees tend to grow more vertical. With that, I'm always trying to keep the center of the tree opened and encouraging outward growth. Hopefully this helps!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you so much!

Hmm, this is an interesting scenario. Normally I would say you're probably dealing with root stock if it's coming from branching that's on the ground and I still think that's probably what you're seeing. Do you know whether or not this tree is grafted? If so, you'll want to remove any branching below the graft as that is root stock and not the variety you were trying to purchase/grow. It would also stunt the growth of the known variety as the root stock will try to take over. How did the plums taste?

Glad you enjoyed this one Alice. I hope you enjoy the rest of the channel and let us know if you have any questions!

Hey there Faye. I (Duane) grew up in Gardena in LA and we had a very productive Santa Rosa in the back yard, so I don't think climate as the issue. While they do need some chill hours (time below 45 degrees) it didn't seem to effect that tree. Pruning may be part of the issue, so I would consider some of the points we discuss in this episode. Fertilizing is also important and we fertilize 3X/year (Feb, May and Sept). Lastly would be the age of the tree. Plums are notorious for being finnicky with production when they're young and then they can also be alternate bearing (only producing well every other year).

Bingo! We don't discuss it much, but 2020-2022 were the most productive years we've had on this farm as far as work was concerned. The only thing here in February of 2020 was the house and chicken run.

It's sometimes hard to tell, especially with younger trees. When in doubt, leave it to see if you'll get fruit on it. By the second year it's really easy to tell what was a spur and what sprouted into branch/leaves.

As long as you're not in a desert area like we are you should be ok to do some Summer pruning to control for size. Just be cautious around the fruiting spurs, so you're not taking out all of your production for next year. You may already be aware, but just in case I'll link a video for you here where we discuss that; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-LMzD1SmNCQg.html

Hey there! Glad you're enjoying the content. I will say, one of the biggest advantages we have here when it comes to fruit trees is the weather. The year round, dry weather eliminates most diseases you'll find in other areas of the country. Not much survives when you have humidity in the low double digits!

That would be an interesting test.

Yeah, we have ground squirrels here as well and they are Satan spawn!

Hey there Alice. It really depends on the variety. We have 2 plum varieties here on the farm that are self fruitful (no pollinator required) and they actually are needed to pollinate some of our hybrid plum varieties.

Hey Deb, great question. The primary reason we prune so heavily is because they grow so aggressively. Our climate has a lot to do with that. If you're not seeing a few feet of growth in any given year on a young tree like this, you wouldn't need to be quite as aggressive. That being said, the structure and general shaping of the tree would still apply.

Hey there Harry. You hit the nail on the head with why you're not seeing mangoes and avocados here. They can be grown in the city with limited success, but we're another 5-6 degrees cooler out here and it's just a bit too much for them. It takes a lot of work to get a few pieces of fruit and we're a bit lazy when it comes to that!

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks for letting me know. You guys are amazing. I'm a huge fan

Hey Ruth, great question. I can only assume the direction was being given on more mature trees where you're maintaining shape and production as opposed to shaping the tree. These are younger trees that are still being shaped for long term health and production. That being said, you can always keep any branching you see fit. Of course, this is for spur fruiting trees like plums, apricots, etc.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you 😊

You'll see those peaches either way. Pruning just nudges the tree along!

Those are workhorse for us here on the farm with all of these fruit trees! Glad to hear someone else feels the same about them!

That is a great question and I should clarify. The fruit itself is a hybrid that was created by co-mingling cherry and plum pollen/flowers. This particular tree puts off very sweet fruit that are slightly larger than a very large cherry and smaller than a typical plum. The flavor is similar to plum, but with much less tart in the skin.

Is this tree self pollinating or does it require a pollinator? I enjoy your channel.

@@mikecollins1269 This one technically needs a pollinator and it's the primary reason we have a Burgundy Plum adjacent to it. However, I'm not completely convinced it's necessary. That being said, the production on both trees on the old farm was impressive with them double planted.

For plum trees it's best to prune during the dormant period (no leaves), but they can be pruned for size control after the harvest. If they're just sprouting I would hold off.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm will do. The tree is getting high and I just saw your video. I planted two plum trees two years ago and they are sprouting what appears out of proportion in height. Always next year to prune then. Thanks so much.

Pretty crazy, huh? The key is the right root stock. These trees come from a local grower who uses his own root stocks grown in AZ.

If the tree has already broken dormancy you'll want to wait until Fall/Winter.

Oh wow, that is cool! I really love those pruners. Very economical and they last for years, but I have no idea where they are manufactured these days.

First off, congrats on the new house and what a blessing to start off with a mature fruit tree! You don't see that often. It would definitely be easier to see the tree when it's dormant and go from there. Our email address is in the About tab here on RU-vid, so reach out when you're getting ready to prune and I'll see if I can give you some advice.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you very much. I am a great gardener, but fruit trees I have not done alot with, although I have done some apple grafting. I also have a peach tree and 4 highbush blueberry from which we had a big crop from and still picking. I also have a young apple that needs help. Thank you for helping talk to you late winter. 😀🙋‍♂️

Hey Vicente. If you're here in AZ or a similar dry climate it shouldn't be a problem as we're typically dry enough that the cut will heal over quickly even during the growing season. One thing to keep in mind with a young tree like this, you want to get as much leaf matter on the tree as you can over the first season. This is what will drive root growth allowing the tree to become more quickly established and able to cope with any stressors that may come its way. If you're able to leave it be for the season and prune it for size and shape this coming Winter it's the route I would take.

@Edge of Nowhere Farm Thank you so much for the quick response, I highly appreciate help and tips, I'm a little more not so dry up in North Carolina, I will take your advice and let it be for this season. It's a rescue tree from an owner who didn't want it, so I transferred it to my back yard, a few months ago. Once again, thank you!

No worries, been there done that! I pruned ALL of the fruiting spurs from a young plum tree years ago and wondered why we didn't see any flowers come Spring. Did some research and found out what they looked like. The following year we had flowers again and I haven't made the mistake again!

Thank you for your videos!

I assume you're talking about the white plastic around the trunks? Those are plastic sleeves that we used for a while to protect them from sun damage and varmints.

Thanks for the feedback.

At 4 years old you should at least see some flowering. How big is it and has it broken dormancy yet?

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I’m in zone 4 and barely has buds. After your video I pruned some branches. The tree is about 8’ tall. After trimming today maybe 6’. Thank you for responding !

When we moved in there was a plum tree and it didn’t fruit for several years. I actually had no idea it was even a plum tree. Then one summer….bam. 200 plums every year.

@@irishrebel1976 Lord, let it be so‼️🌿👍🤗💦🌸💪💥🎊😁😉🎶🌿

Yeah, when you live outside the 5th largest city in the nation you'll have plenty of those to go around. Not to mention Luke AFB.

Yes agree. Stratospheric Aerosol Injection has been happening sadly for many years now with almost on a daily basis a beautiful blue sky is replaced by a sun blocking agricultural looking grey slick from trails that linger and merge. Most peops don't even notice and mostly those that do or when you point out what's happening above their heads they claim they are clouds or water vapour condensation trails. 😕

Unfortunately we're not pros when it comes to photography, so the camera work is not always ideal. If you let me know what time in the video you're referring to I might be able to describe what's going on.

Great question. We use IV Organics 3-in-1 Plant guard for these. I'll link a video we did recently detailing why we use that one for you here; ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-bCe3UZI-GvY.html

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thank you so much

Well, I suppose that's always an option, but you'll be so happy with the end result....lots of wonderful fruit that's easy to harvest!!

Hey Shah. This tree grows several feet per year and pruning is only done during the Winter when it's dormant. That's part of the reason we have to be so aggressive with our pruning.

But oh so satisfying when that fruit set hits in the Spring!!

مرحبًا. لقد حدث تغيير في أرقام الهواتف منذ حوالي شهر ، ولكن تم تحديث صفحة Google الخاصة بنا الآن بالرقم الصحيح إذا كنت ترغب في المحاولة مرة أخرى. يمكنك أيضا مراسلتنا عبر البريد الإلكتروني. عنوان بريدنا الإلكتروني موجود في علامة التبويب "حول" هنا على RU-vid.

Uh, ok.

Hey Chica. We know just how you feel and have been there before. We have a lot of videos on the different types of fruit trees here on the channel that you can find under our fruit tree playlist; ru-vid.com/group/PLnT_wyDSIC9iSsCp34Athj2aGsUQ7vEkF The biggest challenge we all face is where to plant, but the key for fruit trees is they need massive amounts of sun exposure. Even here in the desert, we have all of our fruit trees placed in full sun, all the time. With the right irrigation, fertilization and TLC you'll be just fine. Just realize, mistakes will happen and even when it's not your fault, trees can die! We have it happen to us here even still!

Had somebody else ask that questions a while back. No relation, but that dude is a RU-vid gem. Glad I'm not the only one who watches his stuff!

Here are the details. This tree was planted in the ground on March 28, 2020 and this pruning video you're seeing was shot in January of 2022. It was in a 5 gallon pot with a single trunk/branch that was about 2' tall. I'm going to link an old video we shot placing several trees in this orchard and if you pause this video at about 6:06 you can just make out this tree in the second row from the left and it's the second tree in that row. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3TP92eR_DJ0.htmlsi=BwC-9wxf8gjj99_i To say these grow VERY rapidly here is an understatement. It's on Hansen root stock and does AMAZING for us. Easily getting 6' or more of growth in a single season.

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm thanks for the reply and the information although I gotta say that i feel like my question is not being understood or answered or something lol. Btw, The video was great and very informative in regards to how to prune and I will certainly be applying those principles to my mini orchard! Now then, the tree in the video at the time of filming had been on your property for 2 years. understood. What I'm asking is how old was it when you bought it or planted it? There's no way a plum tree could get a trunk that thick or grow leads that thick in just 2 years. Fruit trees and hardwoods just don't grow that fast. Each ring on a cross section would be an inch thick which just isn't going to happen on such a young tree. I'm just curious what the age of the tree is, total, not age on your property. 2 years from seed or initial growth is not possible for this size. Period. The leader from the semi middle that you cut out which was on another branch and also had fruit spurs and at least 1 year old growth literally coming from it, this demonstrates my point. That one cutting was at least 2 years old just judging by what was on the branch and it was substantially smaller than the rest of the tree and growing off of another branch, meaning it was at least 2 years old. I just want to know the actual age of the tree lol! If you're saying that each branch was just plugged into a relatively established plum tree thata about 6-7 years old, okay. I've typically only seen grafts on much smaller trees and normally for a trunk replacement although I know various trees that people will graft different fruits too, young, teen, mature, just need a branch to graft. I just need an explanation on how this massive teenager to adult looking tree is allegedly 2 years old! There's just no way. Would it help if I said what is the age of the tree trunk at time of filming?

@@jonbloodworth474 I'll see if I can clarify for you. We contracted with RSI Growers for most of the trees planted onto this property and this tree was part of that contract. The budwood/scion for this particular tree was gathered from prunings from a tree we owned on our old property in the Winter of 2019. Reid at RSI grafted the scion onto his Hansen root stocks that he grows out on his nursery in Glendale, AZ immediately after collecting the scion from our tree. I can't speak to the actual age of the root stock it was grated onto at the time, but the caliper of the tree we planted was maybe 1/4"-3/8". You can make out the trunks of these trees in that video I attached when they're in the back of the truck. All of them were essential the same size at time of planting as they were part of that contract. As for how they grow this fast, that's well above my paygrade. I'm just happy to have them growing so well and producing. You didn't mention where you're located, but if you're in or around the Phoenix area, you should really visit Reid at RSI. The dude has been doing this for many decades and is a master at growing fruit trees here in our climate. Cheers!

That right there is one of the secrets we share. After posting all of these pruning videos, showing the production it eventually produces, we still have folks reach out who are hesitant to prune at all. We just want them to get that same heavy production we expect each year!

Hey June! Glad to hear that. I (Duane) get some flak from some folks for sharing too much detail, but with these "How To" videos I would rather share more detail rather than less. This way it's beneficial whether you're a seasoned pruner or someone just starting out.

Glad we could save you that nightmare!! We've been there, done that my friend...

Well, thank you. That is very kind.

So, we definitely don't want it to be June right now! It's all too close to blistering inferno weather already...

@@EdgeofNowhereFarm i know im not ready either….too much to do in yard before then

@@ericbowers1620 Always!

Hey Justin. Yes, you can definitely keep them in pots. Your best bet is to find one grown on a dwarfing rootstock, so you don't wind up with a root bound tree down the road. If you're not able to find a dwarf tree you can do some root pruning every few years. It's a bit more hassle, but it does give you some options. The care will be different depending on dwarf vs non-dwarf and you do need to be diligent with both irrigation and fertilization as the tree is wholly dependent on you providing those.