Hi all, hoping for some advice. We have purchased a house with this plum tree in the garden. Tall, thin and narrow with what I think might be aphids on the leaves leading to leaf curl on all of the new growth. Any advice on if this should be hard pruned all the way down to a height where I can re train for lower fruit bearing branches? Will it survive me chopping off the canopy and bringing it lower down?
You might try locating a few dormant buds lower on the trunks and then notching above them to see if you can get them to sprout. If you do then you can go from there. New growth will show within a week or so if it’s going to. Then you can go from there - I think you’ll have to remove one or the other of those leaders, but see what wants to grow first.
Thank you for the advice 
how far up would you look for a bud to notch? Would you treat the aphids with spray first? Thanks
To treat aphids, try a fierce direct spray of water on the underside of the leaf; squish with your fingers; spray with Safer’s Insecticidal Soap; spray with spinosad, or, if you’re not spraying, buy ladybugs. They can be a real pain.
To find a bud work your way down the trunk with your fingers and eyes, looking for little bumps or interruptions in the bark. Often there’s a bud hiding in there. Cut the notch just above it, removing a strip of wood all the way down to the wood. The notch should be three or four times as long as the bud is wide - an inch or inch and a half should be plenty -don’t go all the way around the tree!
I hope this helps.
Are the small branches growing around the base from this tree? I noticed that lower branches have been cut off as you go up the trunk. Check the foliage on upper branches to see if it matches those lower growing branches. Plum trees often put out suckers. If it’s not a grafted tree the rootstock variety of the sucker should be the same as the higher limbs. If you graft or know someone nearby who does the tree can be easily reformed to a lower growing manageable height.
Dennis
Kent, wa
If it was me i would treat aphids issue for now then next year when it is dormant i would cut it as low as I can. I will leave the two big trunk and bark graft 2 scion per trunk so that I will have 4 in 1 tree instead of 1 tree, it will also be reachable. Your tree seems so high, unless you can easily climb your roof. Birds will be feasting on them.
Thank you all for the advice. On the back of this I am wondering, if I was to give this tree a hard prune now bringing the lot to about 2-3feet tall - would the tree survive that amount of a hacking. Also would this not kill off the aphids as I will have effectively lost all of the leaves. Or will they just return on new growth. Thank you again for helping me with this
Yes this is another branch coming from just above the ground off the main trunk with a fair few leaves on it
Ok thanks Owen, there are several possibilities I will briefly discuss:
Thanks so much Dennis
So as I have tried to picture none of the suckers look like they are coming from the route they are coming from near to ground on the trunk. They are shooting green and are the same variety as the top. I think I will risk cutting the tree to desired height. In order to encourage the new growth when chopping the tree shall I chop near dormant buds as I would if I was notching. I assume you don’t need to notch if you are cutting branches off as the cut replaces the energy burst of a notch? Thanks for the advice and hope to be nearing a point of making a decision very soon so you have been very helpful. Cheers from wales
What side of the house it is against? It looks like it doesn’t have enough sun exposure there and tries to overgrow the shade. If that is the case, I do not think you can lower it. In any case, a tree, especially plum tree, that has vigorous roots so close to the house is not safe for your foundation.
I would cut it off just slightly above a branch or where perhaps a branch was pruned off as that is the likely location of your Latent buds.
Take advantage of doing it now before you lose more growing season! Those lower suckers are your insurance partners, they will grow more aggressively once your top the tree!
Good luck
Dennis
Thanks for adivce. This is our garden shed and the wall is west facing. The wall gets sun from mid day onward. Do you think that is enough? Will the root be too large to move a tree this size as we are open to the idea? Thanks Owen
In my experience in plums, anything less then 8 hours of sun doesn’t prevent growing, but fruiting is a different story… But I do not have tons of experience, may be somebody will give you more reliable information.
Can you dig around it without cutting into any utility lines? Relocating it during its dormant season would be required to have a chance of survival. Let’s see how much new growth occurs first. Ideally relocating to a location of full day sun exposure would be ideal. I’m guessing its rootball is at least 6’ wide with a taproot down to 3-4’. You will most likely have to cut the roots off as you dig down to free the roots from the soil. You would need to keep at least half of the root system intact to have a reasonable chance of survival. So it’s a rather challenging job. Your trim job looks good so keep me posted on new shoots where the pruning spots are!
Dennis
Kent, wa
Also let me know, do you have any grafting experience Owen?
Make that a plum tree 
