The goal of each gardener is to get a decent harvest. But in order to achieve this, it is necessary to work very well.
Almost every gardener on the site has a plum tree. Both children and adults love to enjoy its fruits.
Plums are closed with compotes, jam is made, and plums have medicinal properties.
In order to get high yields annually, you need to care for the trees of this crop.
The main way to do this is pruning. But many wonder if it is needed? You will find the answer to this question and many others in this article.
Pruning prunes in different seasons: features of each period
Of course, pruning pruning should be carried out every year.
If the tree grows without human intervention, a fork is formed, which will thicken the crown too much.
The purpose of pruning plums is to grow a healthy and fruit-bearing tree.
It is rumored that pruning has a bad effect on this culture, but it is not. First, because, not caring for the tree, gum appears, and secondly, if you do everything correctly, there will be no problems.About all the main aspects of such care at different times of the year, we will break down further.
What you need to know about pruning plum in the spring and how to do it right?
Spring is the best time of year for pruning.
Pruning pruning during this period is a very important undertaking.
It is carried out in late March or early April, when severe frosts have already passed, but the growing season has not begun.
Trimming takes place in two stages:
- Thinning - is to remove extra branches and cut off the shoots growing up. If the crown of the tree is heavily dense, then engaged in thinning.
- Shortening - is to circumcise the gains of last year, this is done so that next year new fruit branches appear.
Pruning should be carried out with special tools. Do everything carefully so as not to harm the tree.
Each cut place is treated with garden pitch or special substances.
Basically form a sparse-tier form of plum crown, for 5 years. For its base leave from 5 to 7 large branches that are at an angle of 40-50 degrees from the trunk. Tilt angles are corrected with ropes.
The best option when the main and skeletal branches are directed in different directions from the trunk. The distance between them should be about 20 cm.
The main branches in relation to the tiers of the crown are arranged as follows: there may be 2-3 branches on the lower tier, and two are on the same level, and the third is not. And if you form a two-tier system, then on the second tier there should be two main branches, which should be located at different levels.
Pruning prunes in the summer, highlights
The main summer pruning pruning takes place in the month of July. Pruning during this period is carried out mainly due to the fact that the tree is young and it is necessary to form its crown.
The very first summer pruning is carried out in the year when the seedlings are planted; they do this to shorten the branches at the very end of July. In this process, the lateral shoots are shortened by 18–20 cm, and the premature ones are reduced by 15 cm. However, the central conductor is not reduced.
In the second year, summer pruning is carried out at the same time, and all activities carried out in the first year are repeated. But at the same time remove all excess shoots.
Very good pruning at this time of the year affects the plums, which froze in the winter, and if it was not possible to see frozen branches in the spring or some of them were cut not completely.
Another pruning during this period is good because in summer all the trees are overgrown with leaves and you can see the crown of a tree thickened or not, and then take some action.
Usually planned summer pruning spend in June, but you can carry out various sanitary measures in any warm month. Then it is possible if there is a disease on the branches, it will not switch to other branches or will not spread to neighboring trees at all.
Autumn pruning of plum trees, the main aspects of this period
Pruning at this time comes in second place after spring. All necessary measures should be carried out after all the leaves from the trees have fallen off, the growing season will end and the plum will be prepared for winter.
Basically everyone does in mid-September. But still you should not push aside the processing of this crop for a long time, otherwise the first frosts may not have a very good effect on the tree.
The first care event during this period is the removal of dry or damaged branches or insects, and those branches that were broken due to a bountiful harvest. Also in the autumn you can remove the top of the tree, if suddenly it grew too long.
After carrying out all these manipulations, you can proceed to the following.These include the removal of fast-growing shoots, which in the future will thicken the crown, as well as the shoots of competitors. In the autumn, they are cut off by about a third of the entire length.
Basically, the whole autumn pruning procedure looks like this:
- If this is the first pruning, after they have planted a plum, then the main trunk is cut by a third, and then all the other shoots are cut into two thirds, this is done in order not to create competition between them.
- Autumn pruning for old or neglected trees is carried out for their rejuvenation, all bad branches are removed.
- The third pruning is called regulating, it is carried out for all trees. Remove all strongly growing branches in order to defuse the crown.
After all the necessary measures have been taken, all the pruned branches are burned so that the parasites do not multiply.
We’ll tell you about whether it’s worth winter pruning of plum trees and dwell on the main points.
Pruning pruned trees in winter is becoming more popular.
And all due to the fact that the plum refers to the stone fruit cultures, and it begins early vegetative processes. And the gardener, due to the rapid transition of winter to spring, may miss the moment when the buds begin to swell.
Plum tolerates winter colds better than other stone fruit, but it is still a thermophilic culture.
All necessary activities need to be carried out. in February at a temperature of about 15 ° Cbut not lower.
Main advantages of winter trim this culture:
- In winter, there are no leaves on the tree, which gives a better overview of the state of the culture. Because of this, you can easily determine how best to prune.
- During the winter period, the tree practically does not experience any stress when pruning compared to other periods.
- Frozen branches easier to cut, with all this, the appearance of the wood is reduced to zero.
- The advantage is that in winter it is easier to put a ladder to a tree, without fear of damaging the nearby growing crops.
If you do everything correctly when pruning in the winter, then there is a chance that you will cause less damage to the tree.Cutting branches will be easier, and the cut will be smoother.
What are the processes of pruning both young and old plums. Tools and trimming scheme
Pruning 1 year old plum
It is necessary to hold this event immediately after planting the seedling, in order for the damaged root system to provide all the necessary beneficial substances cut branches.
The first pruning pruning carried out after one year of life of the seedling. But sometimes it happens that the seedlings are pruned only for 2 or 3 years of life, because of the fact that these seedlings are more stable and take root better.
But this is not the case, and vice versa, the shoots of these trees will grow slowly, and, consequently, it will be necessary to cut them more tenderly, which brings more trouble to the gardener.
For seedlings of this tree is characterized by heterogeneous growth of shoots, for example, some can grow much longer than others. That is why the pruning of young cultures produced 2 or 3 times a year. The central trunk is cut once a year in order for it to be a leader among the rest of the growing shoots.
An important factor in this matter is that it is necessary to lay the foundation for the growth and development of skeletal branches in 1 year of the life of the culture, and already in the third year - the foundation of the second tier.In the year of the formation of the crown, be sure to trim the tops and branches growing in the middle of the crown.
Also important is the fact that for the best development and growth of the tree it is necessary at the first stage to decide what height and shape the culture should have in order to follow the given path in the future.
The second year of a plum's life, how should it be?
In the second year of life plum pruned tree in mid Marchwhen cropped places will heal better and faster.
When pruning the second year of a tree, you first need to select three or four skeletal branches and cut them in half or third.
The cut must be in place of the kidney turned outwards. During the growing season shoots may be formed on the trunk, which, for a start, must be cut off by about 5-7 cm, and already in the second growing season, cut off completely.
What is the process of pruning old plums?
The length of pruning of old plum trees lasts about fifteen years. All this time you need to maintain a uniform growth of skeletal branches and the main conductor. This lasts until the height of the tree reaches 2.5 meters, after which the main trunk and the largest branches are cut.
This process will stop the growth of the tree, and the gardener will need to pay attention to the fact that a sufficient amount of sunlight illuminates the crown of the culture. Basically, in old trees, only broken and diseased branches are pruned, and small ones do not touch.
With the suspension of the old tree growth of new shoots, you need to hold anti-aging pruning. Also, this type of care should be done with a small crop or if the culture begins to bear fruit only on top of the tree crown.
When holding such an event, it is necessary to cut down old skeletal branches in the beginning of spring, gash the wounds received during pruning with a sharp knife and smear it with garden pitch.
When cutting very large branches you need to file them from the bottom, and then remove the length from the top, this is necessary in order not to damage the tree.
When the culture feels the formation of a wound, it will send a large amount of nutrients to that place, which will contribute to the speedy tightening and healing. At the site of the cut, new shoots are formed, of which only 3 or 4 of the strongest are left, the rest are removed in the month of July.
All anti-aging procedures should not be carried out in one year, as the old tree can not survive a large number of wounds, so it is worth breaking them into two or three years. Pruning pruned tree, it is advisable to carry out if there is a strong and healthy shtamb.
Here are some tips to help with tree pruning at any time during its growth:
- Spring is the best season for pruning a crop, since autumn pruning can dry up a tree a lot.
- At the initial stage of crown formation, it is not recommended to cut the tree strongly. The best option would be to bookmark the main branches.
- For varieties with small branches, the pruning of shoots should be done using the following method: up to 50 cm in small branching varieties and 60 cm in strong.
- After the culture begins to bear the first fruits, pruning should be done in a way to a branch. This is done at a height of 2.5-3 meters, cutting to the side branch.
- During the initial fruiting of the plum is better not to prune. If there is a great need, then make minimal cutting of the branches.
- The best form of the crown for this culture is considered to be a cup-shaped form.To do this, during the formation of the crown of a tree, it is necessary to choose three branches that are at an angle of 120 °, between neighboring and about 50 cm along the trunk.
We study the scheme or order pruning plums
The process of pruning a plum tree resembles pruning of cherry crops. In the first years, they begin to form skeletal branches, weakening or completely, removing them, which in the future may thicken the crown.
The increments of a one-year character take away the length if you need to give the branch a certain direction; equalize the main branches. And also remove the top of strong shoots that have poorly developed buds or freezes wood.
When the culture enters into full-fruition, pruning should be done to enhance growth. But with good, about 40 cm, growth, pruning is done to dilute the crown of the tree. But if the gain is less than 20 cm, it is necessary to cut the branches up to 2 summer wood above the side branch.
If at the end of the skeletal branch growth is less than 15 cm, then it is necessary to begin the process of rejuvenation.
In the process of pruning, thinning of the crown is performed, twisted and shaded branches are removed.
For pruning pruned trees use tools like garden saw, pruner, sharp garden knife.
For the lubrication of fresh wounds prepare garden var. All cutting tools must be sharp and sterile.
