Plums trees are a reliable way to get a home fruit garden started. Plums are relatively easy to manage and tend to be mostly disease and pest free if planted in a sunny well ventilated spot. One or two trees, if managed correctly, can produce an outstanding crop for home use for several months over summer and autumn.

A Plant Relatively Easy To Manage

Plums are also fairly easy to keep down to a manageable size as they respond well to pruning by producing lots of ‘fruit spurs’ if pruned lightly over late summer and in winter. My trees should not greatly exceed two metres in height after been carefully pruned for the first few years.

Plums can grow in a wide range of soils and are able to withstand some water logging. They are hardy once established, but fertilizers and a good amount of water in spring and summer is needed if large juicy fruits are to be produced. They will produce a crop within two years after planting and should be productive for twenty years if cared for throughout that time.

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The last plum to mature will be ‘Coe’s Golden Drop’. The plums shown are still immature in this picture, and will be ready to eat in a few weeks

The next crop to mature after the ‘Satsuma’ plums is the ‘Santa Rosa’ plums. These will not develop a dark skin and are ready to eat at the stage shown

This branch is very heavily loaded with ‘Satsuma’ plum blossoms. The branch was grafted onto an ‘Angelina’ plum tree last year

The ‘Satsuma’ plums are developing and becoming larger filling up the spaces between each fruit

The above ‘ Satsuma’ blossoms have now produced a large number of fruits. Pollination of the flowers has resulted in a high ‘fruit set’

The ‘Satsuma’ plums have how matured and are ready for harvest

The ‘Satsuma’ plums are now starting to mature beginning to develop the dark skin and flesh

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Grafted Plums On My Hobby Farm

Two trees were planted 18 months ago in the farm garden and they have now produced their first crop of very sweet fruit. Both trees were grafted with a second variety when planted and as a result four varieties of plums have been produced. I plan to graft a third variety of plum on each tree next winter, resulting in a total of 6 varieties. These can also be extended in the future if required.

The initial plantings were the European plum varieties ‘Angelina’ and ‘Coe’s Golden Drop’. These were then grafted with buds of the Japanese blood plums ‘Satsuma’ and its common pollinator ‘Santa Rosa’. The ripening order for these plums is firstly ‘Angelina’ then ‘Satsuma’, ‘Santa Rosa’ and finally ‘Coe’s Golden drop’.

Efforts Paying Off

Birds will also notice ripening fruits, and once they try a few they will be hooked! A net to protect most of the crop is recommended if some quantities are to be saved.

My plums have certainly begun to pay off for the initial cost of the trees, fertilizers, water and time spent weeding by producing not only tasty fruit but also beautiful trees for the farm.