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Location: Longview, Washington, United States

I live in a small town in Washington State, USA, with my wife, two sons, two dogs, a cat, and family nearby. I work at the local community college as an I.T. Specialist. In March of '02, we bought a 70-some year old house that needed a lot of work. When I'm not working on the house, I like to throw pots, be outside, and read a lot.

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Thursday, April 28, 2005

Question for the Green Thumb Set




We have a plum tree of some sort in the corner of our yard that produced a good crop of tasty plums this past season. The only trouble was that most of them were inaccessible from the ground. It looks like one of the former residents attempted to cut the tree down a few years ago and being less than successful in that endevour decided to content themselves with trimming it back severely. Note the cuts at the base of the truck and the fact that they took everything off about ten fee from the ground.

The tree survived (obviously) and put out a profusion of branch starts the following year. So now all the the branching starts 10-12 feet off the ground and goes immediately up.

I want to know if you think the tree would survive if I waited until the sap goes down next winter and then cut it off at about chest height and started training the new branch starts to go out instead of up. It isn't a very pretty tree. It blocks our light, and produces fruit that we don't get to pick, but I get to run over with the mower. I'm half tempted to cut it down all together but I'm curious as to what you think its chances would be of surviving an extreme makeover.

posted by Scott in Washington at 9:02 AM |

9 comment(s):

  • unfortunately we don't have any fruit trees in our yard, but i did a quick google search should yield many answers. aparently there are many different opinions and methods on how to prune fruit trees, but it may be worth a shot!
    good luck!!!

    By Blogger Deb, at 4/28/2005 01:20:00 PM  

  • Do it to it. Shit, you could likely do it right now. The west side has such mild weather, and tons of water. Fear not. Hack on, say I.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 4/28/2005 03:09:00 PM  

  • I think I'll probably wait unti the sap goes down just the same. The utility people came through a few summers ago and cut our walnut tree back to keep it out of the power lines. Why they thought summer was a good season to go around cutting on people's trees I'll never know but thats what they did. The tree bled all summer and the sap or juice or whatever running down the trunk turned into this awful gelatinous mold gunk. I think the tree was fighting for its life a few times. Anyway, thanks for the advice peoples.

    Kazzymire, have you ever see one of those stump removal machines that will come to your yard for a few hundred bucks? Its every 12 year old boy's dream, having an articulated arm with a huge circular saw blade on the end that they use to grind the stump down to below ground level and then you just cover it over. Joe Otoello was in my grade or yours (can't remember which). Anyway, he is now the operator of such a machine and I saw him using it in Doug Getman's neighbor's yard a few years ago. Ever since, I've wanted to get my own and mount it on the car I commute in.

    By Blogger Scott in Washington, at 4/28/2005 04:17:00 PM  

  • I'm not sure about plum trees, but if they are as hearty as Apple or broadleaf maple then cutting it in half will probably not kill it. I'd also speculate that your plan will work just going on how the tree survived the last Stihl touch o' love it recieved.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/28/2005 04:20:00 PM  

  • Also, I was at the garden center today and saw a yellow plastic container of this stuff called 'tree wound repair'. Never heard of it before, don't know how it works, might be worth looking in to.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/28/2005 06:27:00 PM  

  • I work at shade today nursery. we move 50 trees that large and larger everyday. we also do stump removal. grinding leaves a soft spot for years.

    i suggest doing it in 2 years. 1st year cut 1/2. then in spring when the new shoots come prun them also to get the desired form. then wait 2 yrs and cut off the rest of what you want gone.
    orchards prune in the fall after harvest. then the tree has time before the next season and lessons the effect on the next harvest. it takes alot of prunning to keep the trees low since they want to take their natural form.
    being next to the tree line also will make the tree want to grow up to compete for light.
    if it were me, that little tree...id get rid of it and get a fruitless plum for the flowers. if you dont eat the fruit they attract wildlife and insects to your lot. with the dammage done and the dammage planned you could probably get a 1" whip the same size in the same time with no injury.
    open wounds on fruit trees are bug candy. fruit trees are the only trees that we treet the wound. (diazanon/boric acid) it doesnt help the tree. it just keeps out bugs for 3 months or so.

    Brian H

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4/29/2005 05:23:00 AM  

  • Hi Brian!

    I've read your posts over at ka-mira's site. Thanks for your expert advice. Which 'little tree' did you think I was talking about? The rhody with the red flowers to the right?

    So, you think that this tree is already too big to ever be the well behaved little plum producer that I want it to, hmm? If I were to try reigning it in anyway, what are some ways I could try training the new branches to grow out instead of straight up?

    By Blogger Scott in Washington, at 4/29/2005 11:57:00 AM  

  • Not to sound like a dork - but what if you invested your time in building a ladder/stairs to reach the fruit... thus saving the life of a tree and gaining some tasty plums? I realize it's a humungo tree but with some creativity maybe you could come up with a solution that would make the tree accessible and attractive? Or I could be off my rocker. Seems like a shame to waste a tree that's being so productive despite everyone's efforts to kill it. ;)

    By Blogger Lisa, at 4/30/2005 03:32:00 PM  

  • I'm with burrito with a very nice ladder you could get the fruit and continue to enjoy the white blossoms in the Spring. We normally back our trees as Brain said and cut back every two years. We also do the cuts in early spring and then put tree paste on the cuts. So far we have saved a hundred year old pear tree and a couple crab apples that were domed for death. Fruit trees are hearty and will take it all, so good luck with your tree but don't kill the old thing it obviously wants to stay right where it is at......

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 5/03/2005 03:04:00 PM  

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