Some fruit trees can also be grown for attractive features like colorful flowers or special leaf, features that put them in a collection called “ornamental” since their fruit will be non-edible or trivial and they have additional, attractive capabilities. The bronze leaf plum tree (Prunus cerasifera) is a fantastic illustration of the kind of ornamental tree which brings both flowers and bronze-to-purple leaf into a home garden. A moderate-sized tree that comes in especially attractive cultivars with deep purple leaves, like “Newport” (Prunus cerasifera “Newport”), it responds well to pruning geared toward keeping down its size or promoting a bushy, two-fold shape. You can prune the tree at just about any time and reach a successful result.
Pruning After Flowering
The bronze leaf plum tree rises at U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 9, blooms early in the spring and becomes approximately 25 feet tall and wide at maturity. The ideal time for pruning depends to some extent on the main reason you have decided to prune the tree. If you want to shape the tree and stimulate vigorous new development to help keep it bushy, it is ideal to cut back branches back only after flowering ends, typically in late spring or early summer. This will not interfere with the present season’s blossom and gives the tree plenty of time to put out new growth before winter arrives and it becomes dormant. If you are removing a couple of small-to-medium branches to allow light to penetrate the tree’s center, you can also do this after flowering has ended.
Pruning in Winter
In case your bronze leaf plum tree is getting too large and you want to dominate its size by pruning it back severely, it is ideal to do so in winter, while the tree is dormant. Even though its top growth stops during the cool months, roots nevertheless grow slowly in winter, especially if there’s little or no frost in which you reside, therefore waiting until winter to get heavy pruning enables the tree’s roots a while to climb before warm weather in spring prompts new top growth. Winter pruning could lead to fewer flowers the next spring, but in addition, it minimizes the likelihood that insects can enter cut ends of bigger branches, since most insects are inactive in winter. Whenever you prune, wipe your cutting tools with rubbing alcohol between cuts to avoid spread of plant disease.
Additional Times
You can eliminate damaged wood at any given time during the year, to help preserve the tree’s health. However, if summers are warm where you live, it is ideal to steer clear of routine pruning in summer, since heat can put additional stress on the tree, causing it to battle as it attempts to put out new development. Plum trees are susceptible to several fungal diseases, like one called black knot which leads to long, dark, knot-like constructions to appear on branches that could appear stunted and finally die back. Should you see diseased branches on a tree, it is vital that you prune these back anytime they appear, to reduce spread of the problem. Find wholesome tissue supporting the genital region and cut the division back to this point, preventing spreading the illness by wiping your cutting blades thoroughly with rubbing alcohol between cuts.
Care After Pruning
After you have pruned a bronze leaf plum tree, maintaining its soil moist helps promote healthy new stems; these put out bronze-purple leaves which slowly mature to dark purple. Verify the tree gets at least 1 inch of water per week, such as rain, and give it supplementary water during dry spells. After you have watered, check that the top 5 or 6 inches of soil is moist by gently digging into soil in a place below the tree’s canopy, but take care not to soften its roots. Adding 3 or 4 inches of organic mulch such as shredded bark also helps preserve soil moisture, while keeping down weeds which compete for water and soil nutrients; ensure mulch is pulled away from trunk.
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