Plums: The Home Gardener's Ideal Fruit Tree

Widely adapted, reliably prolific, more compact, and less demanding than most fruit trees, plums are a natural choice for home growers. Delicious in jams, jellies, butters, sauces, baked goods, dried as prunes, or eaten fresh off the tree. As a bonus, plum trees add graceful beauty to any landscape.

About This Plant

Some plums are self-fertile, but all yield better with a second variety for cross-pollination. Japanese plums cross-pollinate with other Japanese or American hybrid plums. Order bare-root trees if possible. A well-established tree yields up to 2 bushels.

Site Selection

Choose a site with loamy, well-drained soil in full sun. Avoid frost pockets.

Planting Instructions

For bare-root: set atop a small soil mound in hole center, spread roots down and away. Keep graft union 1 inch above soil line. For container-grown: remove from pot, eliminate circling roots by cutting through root ball on its side. Don't cover root-ball top with backfill. Space standard varieties 20–25 feet apart; dwarfs 15–20 feet apart.

Care

Water young trees heavily weekly through the first season. Train Japanese trees to open-center shape; European trees to conical shape with central leader. Japanese plums benefit from moderate fruit thinning; don't thin European plums unless crop is especially heavy. Plums are relatively pest-free but may face plum curculio, black knot disease, and brown rot. Contact your Cooperative Extension office for management.

Harvesting

Harvest European plums when tree-ripe: slightly soft, releasing with a slight twist. Late-maturing varieties should be near-ripe with firm flesh for storage. Pick Japanese plums slightly early and ripen in a cool place.