Plum Tree Pruning?

Hi. We just moved to this area in November. Before we moved in, the grounds were very neglected. There are two trees here that we were told are plums. They have trunks about 5 or 6" in diameter and are at least 20 feet tall. They are very busy with lots of little branches coming out from the bottom. I'm afraid we have no idea what variety they are and have never grown plums before.

My question is "What the heck do we do with them?" Should they be pruned? Cut right back? Thinned out? If we leave them at the height they currently are, how the heck would we ever harvest any fruit at the top? What size are they supposed to be?

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

Anne

Now is a good time to prune, while the trees are still dormant. Get rid of all those suckers at the bottom.

It's hard to know what size they're supposed to be, if they were dwarf or standard, but you're right, you don't want them higher than you can reach.

I kind of thought the stuff growing up from the bottom wasn't a good idea but, really, I had no idea of what to do with it all. DH has suggested firewood but I'd like to have the fruit if I can reach it.

I'll send him out to prune it but I think I'll hide the chainsaw first (LOL). I still haven't forgotten what he thought was a good pruning method for a rose bush that "bit" him.

Thanks.

Anne

Before you send him, you might print out this article: http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/317/

Thanks. That will be a big help! The pictures are especially helpful.

The trees are beginning to bud out and I think they'll be opening up soon. We normally have quite mild winters here with very little snow but this year has been the exception. We had over three feet around Christmas time and it has only just melted - then we got hit with another six inches early this morning and it's still doing it. Jeez - I could have stayed in Ontario for this kind of weather!

I have 2 old plum trees which I just finished pruning. They are not over 8' tall. They had gotten about 12 ' tall even though I tried to keep them short by agressive pruning. 2 Yrs ago I decided that if they died I would just plant more and I chopped the heck out of them. I cut off anything over about 7 to 8' high and cut a lot of their smaller limbs out altogether. That summer they sent out 100's if not 1000's of suckers from all the cuts. Then I read that summer pruning results in less suckering. I pruned last spring and a couple of times thru the summer and the tree was much easier to prune this yr. Also I had the best crop of plums ever last summer. So I suggest to just cut off anything you can't reach on a little folding step stool which will allow you to spray easier if you spray and you can pick much easier. Then occassionally this summer go out and pull off the many little branches that will burst out from around your pruniing cuts. Get rid of ALL the suckers that are coming up from the base of the tree. Plums are pretty resiliant and I think you will be pleased with the results.
RED

OK. Since there are two of them, maybe I'll try one method on the one and another on the second one for this year. That way, I should be able to still have some fruit from one of them this year!

And, yes - if it doesn't work, they aren't difficult to replace!

Thanks

Anne