How to Espalier the Flowering Plum Tree
Blooming early in spring, Japanese flowering plums produce single or double flowers in white and a range of pink shades. Dark purple foliage makes this a beautiful landscape specimen even out of bloom. Training flowering plums in the flat planes of espalier keeps them at a height and width easily enjoyed in smaller gardens. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Hand pruners
- 10 percent bleach solution pruner disinfectant
- Training wires or stakes
- Splints and ties
- Compost
- Trunk wrap
- Balanced water-soluble fertilizer
Instructions
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Preparation
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1
Choose the design of your espalier first. Use styles like the fan or informal espalier that need little pruning if you are a beginner. Use more complicated styles like crossover or arcure if you are familiar with espalier.
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2
Choose your flowering plum for bloom or growth type. Prunus triloba Multiplex has masses of double blooms. Thundercloud and Krauter Vesuvius have single blooms. Use a fast-growing cultivar like Thundercloud to speed training.
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3
Pick a whip, a single-stem plum without side branches that can be shaped as it grows. Buy from a reliable nursery or garden center where plants can be inspected.
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4
Select the place to train your flowering plum. Growing against a south-facing wall is best in cold winter zones. Check a cold hardiness map to find your zone. Prunus triloba Multiplex, the double-flowering plum, is a cold hardy variety.
Creating and Training the Espalier
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5
Install supports for your espalier shape. Using the simple fan shape, a plastic fan trellis works to grow a freestanding plum. Growing against a wall requires setting eye bolts and stringing wire in the fan shape. Use eye bolts and wire on wood fences or use splints (stakes that stabilize and shape new branches) and ties.
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Plant your whip with the trunk 8 inches in front of the supports. Use two parts compost to one part planting soil. Make sure the root ball is just at soil level and that any graft union is above the ground. Use a trunk wrap to prevent sun scald and pest damage.
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Prune after the first growing season to remove all but the branches for the main fans. Tie the branches to the supports to form the fan shape. Continue pruning out unwanted shoots and tying up limbs you want.
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Prune every season after blooming to remove unwanted branches and maintain fan structure. Use heading cuts above downward facing buds to stimulate growth. Use shoot pinching or thinning cuts during summer to maintain shape or remove new growth.
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Tips & Warnings
Get faster results by using 15- to 18-inch young trees with thin opposing branches.
Fertilize flowering plums during the first year every three months with a balanced water-soluble fertilizer.
Fruit produced by flowering plums is edible and often used for jams or jellies.
Tie splints loosely to avoid harming bark when fastening young branches.
Disinfect pruning shears between cuts and after use with a 10 percent bleach solution.
Prevent unwanted straggly growth spurts by fertilizing established espaliered plums once in fall and once in spring.
