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Happy, Healthy Plants Guaranteed
Expertly Grown in the UK
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Happy, Healthy Plants Guaranteed
Expertly Grown in the UK
Carefully Hand Delivered

Cordon Plum Tree

Plenty of plums, minimal space

Grown by John

South Downs National Park

Choose your variety

4 options

Choose your variety

Cordon Plum Tree Trained Fruit Trees
Cordon Plum Tree Trained Fruit Trees
Cordon Plum Tree Trained Fruit Trees
Cordon Plum Tree Trained Fruit Trees

£32

Pre-order for delivery Late November

Pre-order for delivery Late November

Pre-order for delivery Late November

Perfectly happy plants, or your money back

Specialist overnight plant delivery

The highlights

  • Expertly grown in a columnar shape
  • Includes reliably-cropping varieties
  • Use to make syrups, jams and chutneys
  • Honeyed plums, evocative flowers

Description

  • Have you ever wanted to grow a plum tree but felt as though you don’t have the room? Well, do we have some good news for you… Cordon fruit trees comprise a vertical trunk with short, fruiting spurs branching off the side, leading to a much narrower fruit tree that still produces good yields – result!
  • ‘Victoria’ is our grower’s favourite plum tree and widely thought of as the best plum variety out there – easy to grow and yielding delicious sticky plums, there’s a reason why it’s so popular!
  • ‘Opal’ boasts small, perfectly formed plums with a comparable flavour profile to ‘Victoria’ (which, as we’ve established, is a pretty good variety to take after…)
  • ‘Jubilee’ produces sizable plums, displays great disease resistance and, just to top it all off, is very hardy. Where do we sign?
  • Our growers have expertly established the proper cordon shape for your plum tree, so all you need to do is prune your tree each year to help retain its shape. The main pruning should be done in summer, with occasional winter pruning also necessary. Here’s what you need to do:
    1. Towards the back end of August, cut shoots that are over 20 centimetres long, trimming back to a single leaf beyond the cluster of leaves at the base of the current year’s growth (often referred to as the basal cluster)
    2. If you find that your cordon’s spurs are becoming overly crowded – which can happen with more established trees – then thin out some of the older spurs which haven’t fruited quite so well (this should be done in winter)

What To Expect

Supplied as:

Potted tree
Cordon tree in a 9L pot
Bare Root
Bare Root
Bare Root

Height on arrival:

120-150cm
120-150cm
120-150cm
120-150cm

Eventual height:

1.5-2m

Eventual spread:

0.5m
Spreads approximately 0.5m.
0.5m
Spreads approximately 0.5m.
0.5m
Spreads approximately 0.5m.
0.5m
Spreads approximately 0.5m.

Time to first crop:

2 years
Your cordon plum tree might produce some fruit in its first couple of years, however you might need to wait a year or two longer before you start seeing more significant yields.

Flower colour:

White/pink
White or pink flowers appear in early spring
White/pink
White or pink flowers appear in early spring
White/pink
White or pink flowers appear in early spring
White/pink
White or pink flowers appear in early spring

Habit:

Cordon (columnar)
An upright plum tree consisting of a single vertical trunk and short fruiting spurs branching off to the side.
Cordon (columnar)
An upright plum tree consisting of a single vertical trunk and short fruiting spurs branching off to the side.
Cordon (columnar)
An upright plum tree consisting of a single vertical trunk and short fruiting spurs branching off to the side.
Cordon (columnar)
An upright plum tree consisting of a single vertical trunk and short fruiting spurs branching off to the side.

Hardiness:

Hardy
H5 and H6 - Your cordon plum tree will be able to tolerate temperatures of -15°C (and below that in the case of the H6 varieties).
Hardy
H5 and H6 - Your cordon plum tree will be able to tolerate temperatures of -15°C (and below that in the case of the H6 varieties).
Hardy
H5 and H6 - Your cordon plum tree will be able to tolerate temperatures of -15°C (and below that in the case of the H6 varieties).
Hardy
H5 and H6 - Your cordon plum tree will be able to tolerate temperatures of -15°C (and below that in the case of the H6 varieties).

Self fertile:

Variety dependent
Variety dependent
Variety dependent
Variety dependent

Pollination group:

Varies from variety to variety
Varies from variety to variety
Varies from variety to variety
Varies from variety to variety

Uses:

Eating fresh, jam-making and baking
Eating fresh, jam-making and baking
Eating fresh, jam-making and baking
Eating fresh, jam-making and baking

Rootstock:

St. Julien A rootstock
Plum varieties are usually grown by grafting them to rootstocks. This has benefits for pest resistance, genetics and the efficiency of propagation. Importantly, it also limits the height of a tree to a more manageable, specific height. SJA plum trees tend to only reach 4m tall, perfect for smaller spaces or those afraid of stepladders. They can also be trained to a smaller size by pruning or restricting the roots, by keeping in a smaller pot
St. Julien A rootstock
Plum varieties are usually grown by grafting them to rootstocks. This has benefits for pest resistance, genetics and the efficiency of propagation. Importantly, it also limits the height of a tree to a more manageable, specific height. SJA plum trees tend to only reach 4m tall, perfect for smaller spaces or those afraid of stepladders. They can also be trained to a smaller size by pruning or restricting the roots, by keeping in a smaller pot
St. Julien A rootstock
Plum varieties are usually grown by grafting them to rootstocks. This has benefits for pest resistance, genetics and the efficiency of propagation. Importantly, it also limits the height of a tree to a more manageable, specific height. SJA plum trees tend to only reach 4m tall, perfect for smaller spaces or those afraid of stepladders. They can also be trained to a smaller size by pruning or restricting the roots, by keeping in a smaller pot
St. Julien A rootstock
Plum varieties are usually grown by grafting them to rootstocks. This has benefits for pest resistance, genetics and the efficiency of propagation. Importantly, it also limits the height of a tree to a more manageable, specific height. SJA plum trees tend to only reach 4m tall, perfect for smaller spaces or those afraid of stepladders. They can also be trained to a smaller size by pruning or restricting the roots, by keeping in a smaller pot

Spacing:

60cm
Plant 60cm apart to allow for spreading.

How To Grow

Good pest and disease resistance

Our cordon plum trees are robust, healthy and usually display good resistance to problems like cracking. They can still be affected by aphids and caterpillars (however these are easily washed away with a bit of soapy water).

Full sun

Your cordon plum tree will do its best work in full sun (where it receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).

Any moist, fertile, well-drained soil

Plum trees like moist (not waterlogged) soil with good drainage - they prefer slightly acidic soil.

Planting Calendar

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  • Best time to plant
  • Harvest
  • Flower

South Downs National Park

Meet John

110 years' expertise free with every tree

John’s family have been growing trees in the South Downs National Park for over a century, and it shows. Dug up and sent straight to your garden at between 18-36 months old, their quality rootstocks, expert pruning and natural pest control mean that these traditionally field-grown trees are the hardiest you can get.

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in the UK

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