Need a tree pruned

[Farmmaa]

Budget issues hit - so I called my inlaws. They're pretty handy and since they planted that tree (hubby bought the house from them a few years before I met him) they can show me how to properly prune.

You can absolutely do it yourself...all you'll need really is a good sharp set of loppers and a sturdy ladder. Perhaps hand saw for larger suckers.
Don't let the task stress you out - it's hard to screw up a fruit tree.
Start by removing all of the tall vertical 'suckers' or water shoots that grow straight up from your mature branches. That's half the battle.
Step two is to shorten any very long ends...heavy fruit load will weaken and break branches that are too long.

If any large branches need to be removed, it's best to wait on that until proper winter pruning time next year - usually mid-February to early March is perfect.
You can however remove any weak, damaged branches now.

You'll be fine !
And...you won't kill it !

[LANDM]

Italian Prune plums are a bit different than the above. They bear on one year wood so keep that in mind. Do not just cut back all of the new growth, like you would when hedging or shaping some sort of ornamental. If it hasn't been pruned for a while, thin branches out totally with clean cuts. You will be able to see where the buds are so imagine those being fruit and take some of the one year wood back halfway so lighten the load and stimulate new growth. When you drive by an orchard, look at pruned trees to visualize what the final product may look like.

[Farmmaa]

Italian Prune plums are a bit different than the above. They bear on one year wood so keep that in mind. Do not just cut back all of the new growth, like you would when hedging or shaping some sort of ornamental. If it hasn't been pruned for a while, thin branches out totally with clean cuts. You will be able to see where the buds are so imagine those being fruit and take some of the one year wood back halfway so lighten the load and stimulate new growth. When you drive by an orchard, look at pruned trees to visualize what the final product may look like.

I think if you re-read my post you will see that I didn't advise her to cut off all of last year's growth at all.
No matter what kind of fruit tree it is, you don't keep the vertical sucker growth.

I advised her to prune back last year's long growth and weaker branches...not to completely remove them.
Basically, exactly what you just posted.

[Glacier]

I pruned the hell out of my plum tree last year, and it produced 100s of pounds of plums. The year before I hardly pruned it at all, I hardly got anything. Probably only 10lbs.

[Farmmaa]

I pruned the hell out of my plum tree last year, and it produced 100s of pounds of plums. The year before I hardly pruned it at all, I hardly got anything. Probably only 10lbs.

Like LandM stated - if you're worried about over-pruning fruit trees...just take a drive by a few orchards and you'll quickly see just how hard they are all pruned back every year.
Not only to push more fruit production, but to keep trees compact and fruit on lower limbs for less labor and easier picking.

Just...for the love of all things sacred - please people...ONLY prune fruit trees this way !
Soooo many butchered ornamentals and shade trees out there

[Glacier]

The funny thing is that the other plumb tree that I didn't prune also produced like crazy last year, but not the year before. It seems like pruning was not the main factor. I pruned because my ladder only reaches 20 feet, so whacked off the top 10 feet of the tree.

[Queen K]

I don't need a tree pruned so much as a removal.

It's a Silver Birch, beautiful large specimen but only recently I've begun to worry about the effects of water collecting between three tree trunks forming one tree. Yes, three tree trunks are formed into a triangle and water collects in it. Never bothered me until I began thinking of things like, 'what if the tree is rotting from the effects of the water stagnating between the trunks."

Stuff like that.

And if one trunk goes, it could hit the garage, the house and people on the deck.

It's a massive job, but this is the year I believe.

I wrote this back in 2016. ^^^^ Two years ago, I knew I had tree problems but could not face the inevitable until 2018.

I highly recommend Robinson Tree Services.

Friendly, fast, efficient and oh boy, did they work.

https://robinsontree.net/contact-us/

I wasn't prepared for the emotional aspect of removing trees. But I started a thread about that.

Thanks Treeguy, you're worth every coffee bean in that bag. And yes, Treeguy recommended them to me.

[normaM]

you can do it yourself

[Queen K]

Not these trees. The sheer height and volume of material they produced needed specialized equipment and skill.

I had that with Robinson Tree Services.

I can do the stump grinding myself however. And will do so in the next few days.

[porkchopsunday]

I highly recommend Robinson Tree Services.

Friendly, fast, efficient and oh boy, did they work.

https://robinsontree.net/contact-us/

Hi there! Did you mean this company?
http://www.robinsontreecare.com

I clicked on the link you posted and it directed me to a company in the States....



Thanks in advance... Just want to double check as I need some trees pruned ASAP!

[Lady tehMa]

I ended up using Yard by Yard

https://www.okanaganmentalhealth.com/?page_id=45

and I was happy with their services