Thinning out Terry’s Greengage tree in his garden in Preston Park, Brighton. We’ve been looking after this tree for many years now and have found that pruning is best done in the spring when the sap is moving, rather than just after the fruit has been harvested This catches up with storm damage and reshapes the tree to keep it low and flat. It’s a shame to loose the buds and even blossom but the tree has a tendency to over-fruit then dieback the next year. And anyhow the fruit would be out of reach of harvesting.
The wood is green in the spring, which is more difficult to cut, but the tree is able to repair the “wounds” at this time of the year; this regimen is following advice from a number of people experienced with older fruit trees. Terry’s tree was grown from a stone by the previous owners of the garden, so must be at least 50 years old now: it still produces plenty of delicious fruit.