Plums, Damsons and Gages

Damsons

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Plums, Damsons and Gages Part 2 by Martin Welsh

Some commercial development of plums is still taking place with earlier work principally categorising root stocks, and now plums are grafted to St Julian A to produce a medium sized garden tree, Pixy which is a selected St Julian seedling to produce a small garden tree and Brompton root stock which produces large trees.

All of these stocks are compatible with all varieties. At John Innes M.B.Crane produced the Merton series of plums and gages some of which are widely available today.

Commercial production of plums in Britain is being usurped by cheap imports which enjoy more predictable spring frosts. Commercial orchards demand sites which are as frost free as possible requiring active pollinators when air temperatures may be too low for normal working by honeybees. Once the fruit is set long dry spells followed by heavy rain will cause splitting and the fruit that does come to harvest is expensive to gather by hand as well as being delicate to handle.

As a garden tree, specimens may be grown either free standing or as espalier on a frame or wall. Siting of the tree, if fruit is required, is important and care must be taken to ensure that early sunlight will not fall on frozen blossom. To do this it is suggested that a cane, of similar height to the mature tree, is set in the ground at the proposed site to establish whether the early sun strikes it before 9.30 in the morning in either March or September.

Plums are mechanically ill proportioned and if trees are grown in the standard form with a clear trunk bearing a fruiting head branches are liable to break under the weight of a normal crop.

If a maiden tree is purchased it is prudent to nip out the tip so that a multistemmed tree is formed on a very short trunk, this is a more robust structure.

Trees grown as espalier will have their own mechanical support in the training framework. Despite all of these cautionary words a happy Victoria plum will fruit copiously in the North East of Scotland, and in good years heavy crops of damsons and green gages may also be expected.

The trees thrive happily on a neutral or slightly acid soil, but do appreciate a dressing of lime at stone forming time and benefit from prudent feeding every spring.

The only troublesome pests which may be expected in the North East are plum aphids, Brachycaudus helichrysi, which cause unsightly leaf curling when the foliage first emerges in the spring. Infected leaves will die off and be replaced by new leaves later. The aphid eggs and nymphs overwinter on the tree at the base of the fruit buds, to take flight after destroying the young leaves in May.

During the summer they while away the time amongst herbaceous plants and clovers returning to the plums in September to lay eggs for the next spring generation. A good winter wash of the tree works wonders! If you miss some, follow this by a drenching with systemic insecticide when the first damage appears on leaves.

Plums will produce a fine display of blossom in the spring borne on bare branches before the leaves appear. Unlike flowering cherries the blossom will often be followed by a crop of delicious fruit which may be eaten, preserved as jam, or, if it is lightly poached first, frozen without loss. Sloes, which do appear in the wild in the North East, blossom before the other plums and trees heavily laden with fruit are unusual.

There appears to be two types of sloe; one fruits more readily and suckers vigorously throwing up shoots several yards from the mother plant, and the other is reluctant to fruit and is less prone to suckering, the leaves of each type differing slightly.

Neither is recommended as garden plants. Sloe hunting is a worthwhile pastime, it enables the production of Sloe Gin:- take one pound of fruit, prick the skins, take up to one pound of sugar and place both of these into a container to which you should add twice this volume of gin. Seal the container tightly and store for at least two months, shaking occasionally to encourage the sugar to dissolve. After two months have passed, strain the contents of the container running the fluid off into a bottle.

The berries may be eaten as they are or included in a fruit pie as they are now quite palatable. The liquor is good as well.

This article originally appeared in the Members Bulletin, the journal of the National Vegetable Society, which is sent quarterly to members. You can Join the National Vegetable Society here

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