I have a Burgundy plum that hasn’t produced for the last two years due to late spring freezes. Because of that, I’ve forgotten about it and neglected it.
My question has to do with taming the neglected tree. There is the typical growth up top, but there’s also a flush of growth a few feet lower on the trunk and I’m wondering if the lower growth could be from the rootstock and the Burgundy portion of the tree.
It’s on Citation rootstock from Dave Wilson Nursert
The first shot is of the entire tree and you can see the upper section and the lower section with not much in between. The second shot is a close up.
The lower portion looks to be stripped by deer. But I guess you know that if true. I don’t think the lower portion would be rootstock. The limbs originate too high.
Thanks FN! That’s sort of what I thought but I wasn’t completely sure.
As for the source of the damage, as I said I’ve been ignoring my fruitless plums this year, but that’s an interesting suggestion. A few other plums have similar damage but there’s also a much older plum with low branches that doesn’t have any damage. Maybe as trees age, the leaves aren’t as tasty?!??
Tender shoots and leaves are a deer’s favorite, but if the winter is bad enough, deer will eat anything. There’s very few plants/trees that are “deerproof”. I’ve even seen them eat holly leaves when they were desperate. So I think it’s true that your older plum is slightly less attractive to the deer, but I don’t think it’s unattractive enough that you can count on the deer not bothering it.
Thank you so much for this observation! On close inspection, all of my plums had similar deer damage. The old plum that I mentioned had a couple low branches that were unharmed, but most of it was eaten at the same level.
