Plum tree advice please.

[amateur]

Just now, Mice! said:

Thanks for that, ours certainly looks an older tree, but I might look at planting another, I'd like a cherry tree, but I'd just be feeding the birds.

I was fed up with the birds eating our cherries, so I built a fruit cage round it.

I then extended it to cover the vegetable  planters to prevent the pigeons stripping the brassicas.

[Mice!]

59 minutes ago, amateur said:

I was fed up with the birds eating our cherries, so I built a fruit cage round it.

I then extended it to cover the vegetable  planters to prevent the pigeons stripping the brassicas.

I've seen that done before,  another reason I'm not getting a cherry 😁 

[martinj]

14 hours ago, Mice! said:

I've seen that done before,  another reason I'm not getting a cherry 😁 

 our cherry tree (supposedly a dwarf) was feeding the birds from blossom time onwards, we still got 24lbs from it this year

[Mice!]

5 hours ago, martinj said:

 our cherry tree (supposedly a dwarf) was feeding the birds from blossom time onwards, we still got 24lbs from it this year

Wow.

[martinj]

A record year for us

[amateur]

2 hours ago, martinj said:

A record year for us

We had the best year yet for plums, moderate cherries, absolutely no quince nor figs (both usually prolific) and reasonably good apples. Very confusing year.

[martinj]

I did a lot of cuttings for something to do during the lockdown, I'm starting a couple of Brown Turkey figs for growing in tubs.

[Mice!]

5 hours ago, amateur said:

We had the best year yet for plums

Have your plums already been done then? Ours are just ripening now?

[Walker570]

I have four varieties of plums if you include the bullace trees. IF I don't thin the fruit on the Victoria then they will rot very quickly on the tree. This year I did not get to it but they are just starting to ripen so we will pick just a little early and let them ripen in the garden room.  Not quite as delicious as picking a juicy ripe fruit from the tree but we will at least have sufficent for some plum jam.  The golden gage we eat straight from the tree. It is not prolific and we can keep up with them as they ripen. Like honey.  Fruit in general this year appears to be producing huge crops. Hope my brewer is recovered enough to make some cider and pearsecco this year.  Bullace mainly for steaping in vodka and the occasional handful as we alk by. The Damazenes get frozen for pies in the winter.

[Dave-G]

First years nearly ripe plums on ours - almost gave up on it.

[amateur]

2 hours ago, Mice! said:

Have your plums already been done then? Ours are just ripening now?

We have been picking them the last two weeks. Still some left ripening on the tree, which I'll probably pick on Saturday

[loriusgarrulus]

We had a Victoria plum tree in a house we moved into. The previous owner had planted it and told us it had never fruited. Grandad came along and helped us move it in the Autumn as it was too close between two apple trees. Grandad trimmed the tap root right back saying that would start it fruiting. Next year after that it had a dozen plums on. The years subsequent we had bumper crops of plums.