I'd need a helicopter to pick my greengages...

[polly_ni]

I have a greengage tree that I don't remember buying/planting/wanting and it is more like a lamppost than a tree. The first branch leaves the trunk at about eight feet from the ground and it (the whole tree, not just the one branch) produces about 10 gages each year.

I've discovered that I like greengages, so I don't want to lose the tree altogether, but I can't see any way of making it practical as it is. If I take off half of the existing branches is there any chance that it would sprout new shoots below? If I lop off its top, at about four or five feet, will it die or is there a chance that it will produce a shoot? If it did, are the new shoots likely to form viable branches or should I give up the unequal struggle?

I'd love to come to this forum and offer some useful information, but so far it's only questions.

[veggiechicken]

Hi Polly - no worries about asking questions . there's always someone here who can help!
You could try http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ning_4748.html
Basically weighting the branches down into a weeping willow shape. I've done it with plums and apples and they're all within reach now. Heavy cropping too

[polly_ni]

Thank you, I wondered about festooning. I festooned a cotoneaster last year by way of experiment and it worked a treat. I'm just afraid of snapping branches as it's quite old, but I should be brave, shouldn't I? Do you leave it tied down - or up - for ever?

[Guest]

Any chance of a pic? In regards to pruning it is advised you don't remove more than a third as it can send the tree into shock.

[veggiechicken]

Thank you, I wondered about festooning. I festooned a cotoneaster last year by way of experiment and it worked a treat. I'm just afraid of snapping branches as it's quite old, but I should be brave, shouldn't I? Do you leave it tied down - or up - for ever?

I took the weights (plastic bottles of water) off after about 6 months and the tree keeps its droopy
look!
With the bottles you can adjust the amount of water in them to gradually bring the branches down, if you're worried about snapping them.

[polly_ni]

It's bucketing right now, but if it stops in the next hour I'll get a picture, which I suppose it would have been helpful in the first place.

[polly_ni]

I don't even know why I asked. I'm so lazy that they'll probably stay until the string rots.

[starloc]

Go onto ebay and buy a chemical called cytokinin.....

put a pinch into a bottle, add a tiny tiny drop of vodka...swill it around and add a tiny drop of dishwash liquid.....then top upto a litre of water
Spray it all over the tree the leaves , shoots... new and old branches

it is a plant hormone that makes thee plant think you have pruned it and many buds will grow, mainly lower down the tree, if you only spray the trunk you would only force growth from it but it is harder to get the hormone through the bark.
You can make it even stronger if spraying past chance of a frost next year by adding a pinch of another hormone GA3 ( smaller pinch than the cytokinin ) , gibberellic acid this makes things grow faster and longer but does not fore bud growth but makes longer growth.

Or to avoid buying plant hormones spray water on containing a drop of the cytokinin `zeatin` by spraying with coconut milk to force shoot growth

[BUFFS]

I found a homemade solution by bending a 6ins nail into a horseshoe shape, grinding the inside curve to create a cutting edge and attaching this, along with a child's "fishing net" that you can get from a pound shop below it, onto a 8ft long piece of 2 x 2, so I get the net below it and then draw back and the "blade" cuts the stem, dropping the fruit into the net, its okay with my Victoria plum but does work better with the apples/pears and only cost the price of a couple of jubilee clips to hold everything together..

[polly_ni]

'put a pinch into a bottle, add a tiny tiny drop of vodka'

I have no vodka, would rum do?

I might try the coconut milk one. The weather is nearly right for a good Malaysian curry, so off to the market I go. I'm already staring at a few other likely candidates.

Thank you.

[polly_ni]

That's an idea with many applications, although I'm not sure that I wouldn't end up cutting off something vital, like next door's telephone wire or one of my fingers.

[boatsman]

I've got one of the telescopic poles made by Gardena. Fully extended it reaches about four metres. It has the standard Gardena quick change fitting and I have an attachement that cuts the fruit off at the base and the fruit is caught in a cloth pocket. I have used it very successfully in the past to pick grapefruits off high branches. It's more or less the same as described by Buffs but a bit more sturdy.