Large Plum tree - heavy pruning question

[Philplot]

There are several large plum trees that have been left to grow out of control.
They are all around 20ft tall.
My question.
Can they be cut down to 5ft in height, just leaving the main trunk, and still live ?

[Guest]

I was always led to believe that plum trees did not take kindly to pruning and quite often it could do more harm than good. Then this year I was told you can prune hard but it needs to be immediately after fruiting - for me that was six weeks ago. So either way I would be cautious if you are to do anything now.

[Alison]

Plums need to be summer pruned and I'd be nervous about doing too much in one go too.

[orangepippin]

Pruning probably isn't the right word for cutting a mature tree down from 20ft to 5ft. After doing this you will still have the root system of a 20ft tree, but with very little up top to take all that energy. The effect will be a bit like putting the engine from an HGV into a Ford Focus, it will either burst and die, or it will start growing back very vigorously. Assuming it survives, it's main goal in life will be to get back to being a 20ft tree. Whilst it is doing that it won't produce much fruit. If your intention is to have,say, a 10ft fruiting plum tree, then I think you and the tree will never be happy.

[Philplot]

I have found out that the tree will indeed recover next year.
It should put out branches that grow at an accelerated rate.
I intend to do some "Air Layering" and get many small trees from these old plants.
Thanks for all the help.

[veggiechicken]

Please put some before and after photos up - I'm intrigued to see how this works

[Philplot]

I will be at least 5 months before the new branches start to grow.
But here is a drawing I found

[veggiechicken]

Is that Pollarding?

[yummersetter]

Anyone else flinching?

[starloc]

I have seen this done a lot on plums, peaches and apricots , never had the nerve to try it and I like the huge old trees , they look a bit silly like one of those egg shells with cress growing out they had us growing back in school

Seems to work.... I wouldn't do it

[Scarlet]

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Mines not a plum..but this is what a tree looks like with new fast growth after being chopped like B in the pic. Not pretty...



Hmm, How do I get those pics up the right way BM?

[Guest]

Also it is being mentioned about the growth coming back - but how long does it take after this point to fruit again? I have never known anyone to do this with fruit trees

[starloc]

The apricots in my next door neighbours house had a trunk about 6 foot high , he cut it right off to about 3 foot in May 2012 as it started rapid growth, it then sprouted everywhere
The tree grew last year to a giant bush on a pole.... and flowered a bit last year he then pruned a few branches out
This year it had a massive crop, looks a very good tree but a very stupid shape.

I will probably do this on a couple of apple trees as they are rubbish anyway, if it works it works....the trees are half dead anyway!, it seems to be the cure for a half dead tree here! , if it dies I will make something from it, a table, bookcase or similar

The apricot was seed grown, not grafted, obviously any cutting would need to be above the graft

Most of the peach trees in orchards seem to be a 6 inch trunk cut off flat with a silly haircut growing out, I presume they don't need a ladder to harvest

[Scarlet]

I think it would be several years. They also put out so many whippy new shoots that you would have to keep cutting most of them back to the main trunk to get any semblance of order.

[Scarlet]

I did it to a cherry plum, it's more like a bush, it's taken 5 years to fruit