Bringing down the height of an old plum?

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Dennis_taylor rural, WY(Zone 3a) Jul 23, 2003

I just bought property with a 25-30 foot yellow plum. It is HUGE! The problem is it's an old tree and there are no lower branches. Can I rejuvinate this? It is pretty useless to wait for ripe plums to drop that far. It is about 50 years old. There is a lot of dead up there too. I guess I'm wondering if I cut it off at a manageable height, fert'd it and babied it, would it send out viable shoots over the next few years?
thanks.

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rutholive Tonasket, WA(Zone 5a) Jul 28, 2003

Dennis, that is a hard question. If it were me I would cut out all the dead wood first, then maybe cut down a third of the tree top to a good live branch. Do that a couple of years and hopefully new wood will come into growing, and you may be able to shorten the tree considerably. Good Luck Donna

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gretagreta (Zone 4b) Jul 28, 2003

With a tree like THAT! Youd have to dig out the stump to kill it! Those roots should take care of it! Does it send out suckers?

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Dennis_taylor rural, WY(Zone 3a) Jul 28, 2003

There are a few suckers but I think they may be th rootstalk, I'm not sure and don't want to wait and find out they are bitter.
There are no side branches, it sort of looks like a palm tree. I think I'll just cut it off where it is manageable, and hope for suckering. If it dies, wwll I have 4-5 plums in pots needing planting, no loss. It is old and the garden is not as big as would be perfect.

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gretagreta (Zone 4b) Jul 29, 2003

If it looks like a palm tree ...did somebody already prune it heavily and the growth thats there is newer?

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Dennis_taylor rural, WY(Zone 3a) Jul 30, 2003

No, it seems to have lost it's side branches due to heavy wet snowfalls. All the apples and plums have ropes tying the branches together. I think if they were pruned better they wouldn't need ropes. That is my plan for spring, to clean up the trees big time. Thanks.

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