When and how best to replant a plum to a new place - in autumn or spring

There are various reasons when it is necessary to replant a plum on a site or bring it from another place for this, but the necessary processes change only depending on the age of the useful tree. Despite the plant’s ability to live in variable climatic conditions, replanting a plum tree is a delicate and responsible matter. The tree does not perceive such transformations well and endures them painfully, so you need to act carefully and carefully.

Why is it necessary to replant a plum tree?

Gardeners with experience and accumulated experience are well aware of the preferences of the fruit tree and try to resort to replanting plums in extreme cases. The most common option for transplanting plums to new places is moving from the nursery after purchase. To the variety of types of fruit trees - the main argument for planting - there are always added equally significant advantages:

• the need for minimal care;
• immunity to pests (common in other plants);
• unpretentiousness to fertilizing and soil.

Having practical experience, site planning is carried out in advance. At the same time, they try to take into account the characteristics of each crop, its requirements for humidity and light. If the soil on the site is acidic, it will certainly be corrected, because plums do not like either high humidity or high acidity. In this case, there is rarely a need to transport any fruit variety. There are several common reasons for replanting plum trees:

• poorly chosen location of the plum tree, in which there is no possibility of pollination, or the requirements for light and humidity are not taken into account;
• transfer of a fruit crop from another place (from an abandoned plot, nursery, from neighbors who did not need the plum, from root shoots, in order to propagate a successful variety);
• planned construction when there is no other option for locating the required structure;
• demolition of a house and the desire to preserve certain views when moving to a new place of residence with an empty plot of land.

This usually happens at an age when the seedling’s ability to adapt is quite high, but even after transplantation during this period, difficulties often arise in caring for the tree after the procedure. The plum retains its unpretentiousness and immunity throughout its entire life.

Which tree needs replanting?

Sometimes objective reasons arise - the tree has not had any harvest for several years. This occurs due to improper planting or placement of the seedling. The need for cross-pollination presupposes that there are other varieties of plum, cherry plum, or at least cherry nearby. The latter option is not very desirable due to a possible discrepancy in flowering times.

It happens that a tree does not receive the necessary illumination due to an unsuccessfully chosen location, the construction of a building by neighbors, or the rapid growth of nearby fruit crops (a common mistake is planting a nut, which not only grows faster, but also has a peculiar effect on the crops placed nearby).

Sometimes, when delimiting areas, it turns out that the drain is located on the line of the fence. Neighbors have complaints about non-compliance with distance standards and shading of beds with trees. The reason for replanting a plum tree can even be an extension in the front garden of an apartment building in which a plum tree is planted that is not designed for such transformations.

In this case, a good owner will try to save the tree, but an indifferent average person will simply cut it down without thinking. In any case, replanting a tree is a responsible process, the success of which requires care, optimal planting time and thorough preparation. You can try to replant any tree.

But success is guaranteed if it is one year old, it is doubtful, but possible if the tree is up to 5 years old, and then there is a minimum chance even with the most careful care and compliance with all conditions.

Deadlines

You can try to transplant a plum tree in the spring immediately after the soil warms up, but until the moment when intense warming sets in and the tree is forced to develop without having time to take root properly or gain sufficient strength and energy:

1. There are more prerequisites for the success of spring transplants. If the snow has already melted and the soil has managed to warm up, but the movement of juices has not yet begun, the buds have not swollen, there is every chance for the plum to take root and successfully adapt to a new place. Over the summer and autumn, it will have time to accumulate enough strength to produce a harvest the following year.
2. To properly transplant in the fall, you need not wait for the first autumn frosts, but start the process immediately after the leaves fall.
3. At any other time, the success rate is minimal, even if you do it in advance and follow all the instructions.

The practice of replanting plums has been developed for a long time, because it was grown by the ancient Egyptians. But plums and any other fruit tree will need some time to adapt.

When is it better to replant: autumn or spring?

The best time to move a tree from its home is spring. Autumn tree transplants are resorted to when there is an urgent need, when there is no other option. The likelihood of sudden freezing is too high. But spring is also a flexible concept for different climatic regions. If April is considered optimal in the middle zone, then in the South it may be the end of March, and in Siberia and the Urals, transplantation is carried out in May, after the end of frost.

If the variety is winter-hardy, theoretically you can take the risk immediately after the snow melts.

Transplant technology

The transplantation technology in autumn is almost no different from spring. In any case, the pit is prepared before winter, in October. The only difference is that after late replanting the tree is mulched, and in cold climates it is protected from freezing after replanting.

Tree location on the site

The optimal location of the tree is on the sunny side, with maximum heat and light. If possible, on a hill, because plums do not like dampness and react poorly to nearby groundwater.

The soil should be light, preferably loamy. If the area is heavy and clayey, you will have to add peat and sand, and if it is sandy, you will certainly add clay and compost..

Preparing a place for planting plums

A hole in the ground is dug in the fall, and in the spring - no less than 3 weeks before the start of the process. The best option in terms of distance from the edges is considered to be an all-round distance equal to the width of the earthen ball on the root system. If the plum was transported from afar, then the diameter of the pit is determined by the longest roots.

Several buckets of water are poured into the dug hole and drainage is poured (usually fragments of brick or expanded clay, but gravel is also possible). Then fertilizers are added (wood ash, humus or compost), which are poured onto the soil layer so that they do not burn the injured roots. The removed top turf is set aside and can be used in the spring instead of mulch.

Preparing the tree for planting

In order not to damage the roots, the trunk is dug at a distance of 70-80 cm (this depends on the age of the plum), after pouring more water under it so that removal from the soil occurs without difficulty.The digging depth should not be less than 70 cm.

If roots are often found under the shovel, it is better to slightly increase the diameter of the circle being dug.

Instructions for carrying out work

Having placed the tree in the hole, they are covered with soil so that the root collar is not covered with soil, but rises above the ground. As the hole is filled, the soil is compacted and watered. The deeper the hole, the more thoroughly it needs to be trampled down so that there are no air bubbles and it subsequently sag. After planting, you need to use peat or sawdust in the tree trunk circle to avoid moisture loss. If it is a seedling, it is tied to a stake buried along with the tree.

How to care for a plum so that it takes root

Proper care at the initial stage is the correct choice of location and preparation of the hole for planting. For about a year, the plum will have enough of what is placed in it, but already in the second year it is necessary to take care of fertilizers. Pruning is also best done after signs of final rooting appear. For good rooting, the first time you need to loosen the soil in the root zone, make sure that the crust does not cake on it.

The tree tolerates cold climates well, consistently produces good harvests and has many other useful qualities. But plums rarely respond positively to moving from place to place, take a long time to recover, and refuse to produce a harvest for several years.