Growing Plum trees

[spindrift]

The only plum tree I have grown with success is the Victoria Plum which is self-fertile. My damson and greengage trees have failed to produce even a single fruit. When I planted them I knew about pollination problems and so I sited them in a mixed orchard near each other.

I do not have an orchard these days but I do want to gift a Victoria Plum tree to my friend who lives in the Dordogne area of France. I looked around in various french nurseries and could not find a young tree. I asked Mr Baz whether a V plum is obtainable in france but he didn't know and doesn't think so.

I do not yet know whether it is possible to send a young tree from england to france; regulations and all that.

How successful are you with plums?

[bjd]

I don't have a plum tree, but they do seem to grow pretty well here, although this years seems to be an anomaly. My neighbour who has a tree with reine claude (is that a greengage?) doesn't have any this year, whereas usually he has lots.

Other friends who have plum trees tend to get huge amounts that they can't pick easily and end up having tons of them underfoot, attracting wasps and flies and generally making a mess. I don't think those are any kind of special varieties, but mostly semi-wild plums.

I just had a quick google for Victoria plums. They seem to be an English variety from the 19th century. They look rather like what were called "Italian prune plums" in Canada.

Are they like this?


Those are what pruneaux d'Agen are made from, so they should grow in s-w France.

[spindrift]

Yes, bjd, thank you. The pruneaux d'Agen looks similar to the Victoria plum which is more reddish/dull yellow as well as purple.

Could you please give me some advice on how to plant a tree on limestone...my friend 'M''s land is hilly with limestone just a couple of inches before the surface. Apparently you have to dig a large hole and then break up the stone beneath and fill with ordinary soil. Is this true?

The trees already planted on his land (apart from indigenous varieties) are struggling. People are inclined to pay little attention to the quality of the planting that is required for successful growth.
Do you have this limestone 'problem' in your part of France?
Of course one would add well-rotted manure and bonemeal to the soil mix. I would have to oversee the planting myself to get it right

[bjd]

Spindrift -- you need someone more competent than me. I suggest asking at a nursery in the area where your friend lives -- they should be able to advise about tree planting in the type of soil they have there.

In any case, it's definitely the wrong time of year. Here, trees are planted in November or so, to take advantage of winter rains. You can, of course, dig a big hole and spend your time watering, but I don't think that's the best way to do it. Especially this year, since we have water shortages.

It's not limestone where we live -- rather clay soil.

Your comment that trees other than indigenous varieties suffering is interesting. I often think that when we try to plant non-native trees or bushes, we have a hard time, simply because they are not adapted to the area. In my neighbourhood, for example, nearly every garden has a cherry tree (or two), whereas there are no apple trees. We tried planting apple trees several times and they just don't grow, get infested with bugs, etc. But apple orchards are enormous near Montauban, only 50 km north. And that is over a relatively short distance.

[spindrift]

I used to own 11 acres of Ancient Woodland, that is, woodland that had not be interfered with for at least 300 years. The woodland department of the local county council suggested that I study a short course on woodland management. This taught me a lot about trees, coppicing and woodland maintenance. I was taught how to make 'rides' through the woodland to let the sun in (which encourages wild flowers to grow), never to take wheeled machinery into the woods (I should rather take a pony) to haul out fallen wood; how to deal with the ever-present problem of tenacious brambles, how to recognise various species of wild orchids, when to coppice the established underplanting of hazel (before it grows too high, breaks and dies), how to fell trees as the desired angle, how to make living fences from coppiced wood and so on and so forth. And coming back to the 'indigenous' trees (in our case, oak, ash and beech) to notice how well they grow on the type of soil suited to their needs and how every 120 years or so there is an enormous storm with high winds of up to 120mph which blows down the weakest so that, in nature's way, the next generation can self-seed and grow. Once again, in our case, the great storms of 1988 and 90 blew down most of our old oaks and left acres devastated (we lost over 100 trees) but within 4/5 years the next generation of seedlings had strongly sprung up..not oak but Ash. It was the Ash's turn for supremacy.
And so that is how I know a bit about woodland which had Chalk underlying the forest floor.