Plums are fast growing trees, but fairly short-lived at 25 to 30 years. Most of those in the orchard were planted in our first winter here and so are now 14 years old. Young adults entering their peak fruiting age. This year’s mild, dry spring with no late frosts, was very favourable to early pollinators and led to an extremely good fruit set. Followed by a hot, sunny summer this combination of conditions has resulted in the heaviest crop of stone fruit we have ever had.

So heavy that, about a fortnight ago, a couple of branches on ‘Warwickshire Drooper’ snapped under the weight of fruit. We quickly got out the ladder, pruning saw and loppers and did a remedial prune to remove the ripped and damaged wood, as this is where disease enters the tree. A couple of years ago we had to remove our ‘Victoria Willis Clone’ plum tree as, although it is reputed to be resistant to silver leaf (an airborne fungal disease that affect plums and other stone fruit) a broken limb, similarly weighted with fruit, must have allowed the fungus an entry point and it quickly failed. For the same reason plums should only be pruned in the summer when the sap is moving up through the limbs, rather than in winter when it is being drawn back into the tree, potentially bringing pathogens with it.