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Pruning plums in autumn is one of the must-have procedures for caring for this fruit tree. It is necessary to figure out why it is needed and according to what rules to carry it out in order to contribute to the healthy development of the plum.
Purposes of Autumn Pruning Plum
You can cut plums almost all year long - except during the winter frost. However, any seasonal pruning has its own specific goals. For example, in spring, plum branches and shoots are pruned mainly in order to remove malformed parts. In summer, it is most convenient to form a beautiful outline of the crown of a tree.
As for the autumn pruning, its main purpose is the sanitary care of the plant. After the plum leaves fall, it becomes especially clear to see dried and damaged branches, which will no longer be of benefit for the next year.
In addition, pruning in the fall protects the plum from damage. If too much snow falls on the densely growing branches in winter, they can break, and accordingly, in the spring, you will have to deal with the treatment of the tree. After correct pruning, the plum tolerates snowfalls calmly and continues to grow confidently and healthy in the spring.
When to prune plums: fall or spring
Autumn is not just an acceptable time to prune plums. Autumn work has its advantages, due to which many gardeners deliberately postpone the process until September. Namely:
- Autumn is the best time to sanitize. All dried or fungus-damaged branches are clearly visible, they are easy to remove.
- After the autumn pruning, the plum goes into winter dormancy, and the vegetation processes in it stop. Therefore, pruning does not slow down the development of the tree. Until spring, the cut sites have time to overgrow, and the tree continues to grow without hindrance.
- In the fall, it is much easier to collect all the trimmed branches and fallen leaves and burn them so that a possible infection does not definitely spread further.
Pruning plums in the fall: scheme and rules
The scheme for pruning a plum tree in autumn looks like this:
- The tree is carefully examined for weak, dry branches affected by infections.
- After that, pruning is performed for all diseased areas.
- Fast-growing plum shoots are cut a little more than half - about 2/3.
- The young plum is shortened in height by about a third, if this pruning is the first for the fruit tree.
- The crown is thinned out, giving it the correct geometric shape.
After the end of the work, all trimmed branches and foliage are collected and burned to prevent rotting and the spread of possible infections.
When forming the crown of a garden plum, it is recommended to choose the shape of the bowl - that is, to leave several main skeletal branches extending from the main trunk at an angle of about 120 degrees. There should be a decent distance between these branches - at least half a meter.
When can a plum be pruned
Despite the fact that the calendar autumn lasts three months, pruning of plums in the fall should be carried out in September. It is necessary to wait for the leaves to fall so that the branches of the tree are exposed.
However, it is impossible and too delayed with the procedure - pruning is performed before the arrival of cold weather and frost.If pruning is too late, the cuts on the plum will not have time to heal, and frost will damage the health of the tree.
Pruning plums in the fall for beginners
As a rule, autumn pruning is carried out simultaneously in several forms at once:
- Sanitary pruning - aimed at removing diseased and infected branches.
- Formative pruning - to give the desired shape to the crown.
- Restorative pruning - in the process, branches that have dried up or broken during the spring-summer period are eliminated.
There are several ways to properly cut the plum in the fall.
- If you want to reduce the number of shoots and leave only the most promising of them, pruning on the side shoot is used. It is necessary to select the strongest fruiting branch and cut the plum 2 - 3 mm above the place where the shoot is attached to the trunk.
- If you need to shorten the shoots a little, without cutting them off completely, "pruning for the kidney" is used. It is necessary to select a high-quality bud in the right place of the shoot, and then remove everything above it with a pruner at a cut angle of 45 degrees. In this case, the upper edge of the cut should be in line with the upper point of the selected kidney.
- If a diseased or dry branch needs to be removed entirely, then a "ring cut" is used. This means that the cut line of the branch is not flush with the trunk, but at the level of a small annular bulge where the branch is attached to the trunk.
It is only necessary to trim the plum with the correct tools. You will need to arm yourself with a pruner and a delimber, a garden knife, a garden hacksaw, and preferably two - more and less. For easy access to high-lying branches, a stepladder is useful.
After trimming, the cuts must be treated with garden varnish or with an ordinary solution of copper sulfate.
Is it possible to trim the crown of a plum
Novice gardeners are often afraid to trim the top for fear of damaging the entire tree. However, in fact, you can cut the plum from the top of the head - even necessary. Otherwise, the tree may grow too powerfully, and much more effort will have to be made to prune it. In addition, the tops of the heads, not engaged in fruiting, interfere with the development of the plant with strong growth and negatively affect the yield.
Is the plum cut in winter
Plum is usually pruned in autumn, spring or summer - during the warm seasons of the year. However, sometimes winter pruning is also practiced, which has the following advantages:
- There are no buds on the plum during this period, the vegetation processes do not proceed, respectively, the tree does not experience stress from pruning.
- Frozen shoots are sawn more easily, during the pruning process so-called “scuffs” rarely occur - inaccurate wood chips near the cut.
But of course, you can cut the plum in winter only if certain conditions are met. To carry out the work, it is better to choose the middle of February, while a thaw is necessary with a temperature not lower, but better above + 10 degrees. Thus, winter pruning only suitable for southern areas with mild warm winters.
Top dressing of plums in autumn
After pruning in the fall, the plum must be fed. The fertilizer applied will help the tree recover from damage faster and enter the growing season in the most healthy state.
In autumn, it is customary to feed plums with three types of fertilizers, namely:
- Wood ash - at the rate of 200 - 300 g of fertilizer for one tree. Ash saturates the root system with useful minerals and reduces the level of soil acidity.
- Potassium - in the amount of 100 g of dry composition per 10 liters of water. Fertilizer is applied not only under the trunk, but branches and crown are also sprayed with it. Potassium in the fall removes a maximum of liquid from the shoots and stem of the plum, thereby preventing winter freezing.
- Phosphorus - in the amount of 50 g per 1 sq. m around the trunk.Fertilizer strengthens the roots and helps the plum better absorb protein and sugar compounds.
But it is not recommended to feed the plum with such organic fertilizers as manure, compost and bird droppings in the fall after pruning. Organic matter releases nitrogen, which provokes the growth of shoots - it is better to use such fertilizers in the spring.
Pruning and caring for plums in the fall, fertilizers help keep the plant as healthy as possible and guarantee the successful development of the plum in the spring.
How to prepare a plum for winter
Pruning and feeding are not the only activities that include high-quality preparation of plums for winter.
- Watering. Before the onset of winter, it is necessary to bring enough moisture under the trunk of the plum, which will help the plant to survive the winter. The amount of water is determined depending on the soil. If the groundwater is close to the surface, then it is necessary to saturate the ground around the trunk with water a meter deep, if the soil is dry enough, then two meters deep. Pre-winter watering is carried out before the arrival of frost, but after the leaves have fallen, and provided that there was little rain in the fall.
- Plum care in autumn includes mulching... After watering and fertilizing, the soil around the trunk of the plum is mulched - that is, sprinkled with a layer of mulch, covered with sacking in several layers, and then dripped with a small amount of earth. Mulching insulates the roots, retains moisture in them throughout the winter, and prevents the root system from freezing.
- In order to protect the plum trunk from diseases, infections and pests, it whitewash a special solution based on lime, mullein and clay. You can also add copper sulfate to the solution. First, the plum trunk is carefully treated with a scraper or brush, removing areas of old bark and growths, and then whitewash is applied in an even layer.
- To avoid freezing, the plum trunk and the ground around the trunk for the winter insulate... For example, you can overlay the trunk with spruce branches, wrap it with a layer of heat-insulating material. After the snow falls, you need to trample it tightly around the tree - the trampled snow layer will protect the roots from both frost and rodents.
Conclusion
Pruning plums in the fall is one of the most popular tree care options. If you carry out such a procedure at the right time and according to all the rules, then it will be much more useful for a tree than spring or summer pruning.
