How to prune small plum trees

Prune tree pruning time

Small plum trees need to be pruned twice a year, mainly in summer and winter, with three to five times in summer. Pruning small plum trees can save nutrients in the tree, maintain balanced nutrition, promote flowering and fruiting, and prepare for increased production.

How to prune a plum tree

1. Summer pruning

Summer pruning of plum trees can be divided into 3-4 times. The first time is after the budding in spring, mainly to remove buds with inappropriate growth positions, weak buds among double buds, ineffective branches, etc. The second time is after the flowers fall, through combined with flower thinning and fruit setting, dense branches are removed to control competing branches.

The third time is to shorten the vigorously growing branches after the core is hardened to promote the growth of lateral shoots. The fourth time is to prune the excess lateral shoots and pinch the branches that bear fruit in late autumn to promote the differentiation of flower buds. This will make the overall tree shape better and increase the fruit set rate of the fruit tree.

2. Winter pruning

The purpose of winter pruning of small plum trees is to maintain the shape of the tree and keep the balanced growth of the plum tree, coordinate the balance between vegetative growth and branch growth. During the aging and renewal period of the fruit trees, the fruiting years can be extended by directly sawing off very thick old branches and letting new branches sprout soon.