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

autumn-sale

'Lizzie' Plum Tree

Early-cropping, sweet, red plum

Grown by John

South Downs National Park

Choose your size

2 options

Choose your size

'Lizzie' Plum Tree Fruit Trees
'Lizzie' Plum Tree Fruit Trees

£30

£32

Pre-order for delivery Late November

Perfectly happy plants, or your money back

Specialist overnight plant delivery

The highlights

  • The plum that tastes like pear drops
  • The best plum tree for blossom
  • Makes a fantastic plum tarte tatin
  • Harvest from mid-July

Description

  • A very early red plum originally from Japan, with rich red juicy flesh
  • Dual purpose - great eaten fresh or to cook, with a sweet flavour said to be like pear drops
  • Crops heavily from mid July to August
  • Self fertile and reliable
  • Early blossom has good frost resistance
  • Our trees are professionally pruned before dispatching. This formative pruning can involve cutting the main leader, if the expert tree growers decide this will produce a better shaped tree. This can stop the tree becoming "leggy", and promote stronger, bushier growth.MORE

What To Expect

Supplied as:

Bare root
Our bare root trees are lifted fresh from the field, wrapped in a moisture retentive covering and packed straight away. You can be sure they will be fresh when they arrive. In winter, you can store for several weeks if kept in a cool, dark spot. Later in spring, when the temperature rises, you will want to plant within a few days of arrival.
9L poly-pot
This tree is supplied in a 9L Poly-Pot, which is approx D15 x H30cm. Poly-Pots use 70% less plastic than traditional pots and can be recycled. A 9L pot allows ample space for good root development and can support a good size tree.

Height on arrival:

120-150cm
Your tree will arrive at a height between 120-150cm
120-150cm inc. pot

Eventual height:

5m
5m

Eventual spread:

4m
Spreads approx 4m
4m
Spreads approx 4m

Tasting notes:

Very sweet with a flavour like pear drops
Very sweet with a flavour like pear drops

Time to first crop:

3 Years
You may see your first plums 3 years after planting, but you should not expect substantial crops until the 4/5th year.
3 Years
You may see your first plums 3 years after planting, but you should not expect substantial crops until the 4/5th year.

Hardiness:

Hardy
May require some protection from very late frosts as this can damage the flowers. This won't cause lasting damage to the tree but will reduce the yield of fruit that year.
Hardy
May require some protection from very late frosts as this can damage the flowers. This won't cause lasting damage to the tree but will reduce the yield of fruit that year.

Self fertile:

Self fertile
Doesn't require a pollination partner to produce fruit but may produce better crops if one is nearby. In most built up areas, it is unlikely there will not be a suitable tree close enough to pollinate, but in rural areas you should consider making sure there is another tree in the same pollination group within a mile.
Self fertile
Doesn't require a pollination partner to produce fruit but may produce better crops if one is nearby. In most built up areas, it is unlikely there will not be a suitable tree close enough to pollinate, but in rural areas you should consider making sure there is another tree in the same pollination group within a mile.

Pollination group:

Group 4
Group 4

Uses:

Eating, cooking, preserves
Eating, cooking, preserves

Rootstock:

SJA rootstock (grows up to 5m)
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. They can also be trained to a smaller size by pruning or restricting the roots, by keeping in a smaller pot.
SJA rootstock (grows up to 5m)
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. They can also be trained to a smaller size by pruning or restricting the roots, by keeping in a smaller pot.

Spacing:

4m
Plant 4m apart to allow for spreading
4m
Plant 4m apart to allow for spreading

How To Grow

Excellent pest and disease resistance

Shows excellent resistance to the main pests and diseases for plum trees including cracking. There may still be a need to keep an eye out for aphids and caterpillars, which can both be washed away with soapy water. Birds will eat the fruit if given the chance so take steps to prevent this like using a fruit net or bird scarers.MORE

Water in well

Water in thoroughly when planting. For bare root trees, you won't need to water regularly, only in dry spells when needed. (You should be able tell because the leaves will start to wilt and droop). If a container grown tree, it will need more watering until its roots are established. It should be watered every other day or so for the first few months, then reduce to twice a week until autumn. In the second year it should have a established enough root system to support itself, just water when required as explained above for bare roots. When watering a tree it is important to give a good soaking. It is better to water heavily and less frequently than little and often, to encourage the roots to grow deeper into the ground.

Full sun

Plum trees fruit best with at least 6 hours of sunlight per day, but they can also deal with a little light shade, especially in the afternoon.

Any fertile, well-drained soil

Prefers fertile well draining soil. Can also tolerate clay soil but you will need to take some steps to improve drainage, such as mixing in fine horticultural grit or perlite to the surrounding soil when planting.

No feeding required

No need to feed - apple trees get all the nutrients they need from the soil. ?v=1613300929

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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Good to know

Our plants are grown 
in the UK

Specialist UK growers we know and trust grow your plants the traditional way, with organic fertiliser and biological pest control. They pick only the healthiest plants for you, professionally pruning them so that they’ll grow strong and well shaped.

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Your plants are sent to you fresh from the field in our plastic free box that’s specially designed to hold them tight, then securely delivered by specialist plant couriers - straight from the grower to your garden within 
24 hours.

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We want your plants to have a long and healthy life. Expect easy-to-follow grow guides and videos devised by our team 
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We deliver to anywhere in Mainland UK for our standard delivery cost. We are able to deliver most plants to Highlands and non UK mainland however this will be at an additional cost. This will be calculated at the checkout. Please note, deliveries to these locations will take longer. Unfortunately, we are not able to deliver to Northern Ireland at present.

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