Has anyone tried using aluminum wire to train branches of plum? I’m tempted to try a 3mm diameter aluminum wire on our 1 year old snakey mustang chum.
1 Like
I have bended branches down to direct them more horizontal on peaches. Plums grow better and I haven’t needed to. I also found pruning made the biggest difference. You can lead the growth of a branch in direction or angle by pruning back to a side branch or even to a bud pointing in the right direction. I don’t use wire I use weights. I would think the wire would work. It is just to much work for me. Shape it any way you like.
2 Likes
My worry with using weights and ties is somebody, including myself, accidentally snagging on the line and breaking the branch. I wouldn’t have that problem with bonsai wire but I wonder if it would interfere with the growth somehow with wire against it. (I won’t wrap it too tight of course but I havent worked with plums enough to know how it would react).
1 Like
I think it would work if you have a heavy enough gauge wire. However, I would worry about it constricting the bark and maybe girdling the branch. A tree in ground will (usually) grow much faster and more vigorously than a bonsai under root pruning, small pot size, etc. My experience with using wire on bonsai is that it doesn’t take much growth before the wire starts to dig into the bark and leaves a mark for years (if not permanently). An in ground tree could shoot past that amount of growth in weeks or less.
3 Likes
You have a valid point even weighing down I pad the branch as to not girdle it. That said it works very well. You have to leave the weights on all season. I just did this last season and it worked so well. I’m grafting those branches this season as all my trees have multiple cultivars.
1 Like
I have snagged the lines, broke the bended limbs more than a few times. Pear wood is brittle and sustained more damage than plums or apples.
To me, using wire seems to be labor-intensive i.e. more work to put it on and take it off. Like others said, those branches grow fast. I think using twine/string and rocks are most convenient.
4 Likes
Nice. I only have a couple of young newly-bought trees (one is 3/4” caliper, the other is tiny 2footer), so unless I find any more cons with wire aside from the girdling and extra work, I’m still leaning towards trying it atleast on a few branches. Now that the use of padding was mentioned, ill see what i can do…maybe use some kind of silicon tubing as a cushion…
How low are the lowest scaffold on the plums? Around what angle are they? How old?
Yep, this is exactly what happened:
I have settled to just using a medium assortment of plastic spreader sticks and then making my own out of wooden stakes they sell at the hardware store.
3 Likes
When you have a few young trees, you can pamper them. But a chance of the wire girdle branches is high due to plum’s rapid growth.
When I tie a knot, it is never against the bark of a tree. I was never a scout so I don’t know how to call such a knot 
How low you want a branch to be is up to you. Do you need to mow or reach under? Do you have to worry about deer.
I tend to bend mine to 60-70 degree angle.
2 Likes
Yikes! Yes, that’s what I was picturing happening.