Kem Ormond’s vegetable garden: The Luisa plum and why you should consider it

Kem Ormond's bottled Luisa plums. Photo / Kem Ormond

Kem Ormond is a features writer for NZME community newspapers and The Country. She’s also a keen gardener. This week, she’s investigating the Luisa plum.

OPINION

While many of us have vegetable gardens, having a few fruit trees is the next addition to your food forest!

Unfortunately, not everyone has the space for a small orchard, but if you want a fruit tree, then I recommend a Luisa plum.

I am relatively new to this variety of plum, but I am now sold on it.

This prolific fruit-producing plum tree is hardy and will grow in almost all regions.

The fruit is heart-shaped, quite elongated and has firm yellow flesh, while the skin is yellow with a pink blush overlay.

They have to be the sweetest plums I have tasted and are incredibly juicy.

Each season I bottle them, never adding sugar, I just cook them in water and then bottle them in the traditional method.

They are a big plum, so also perfect for dehydrating, but eating straight from the tree is the best way!

The main requirement is that the tree gets full sun. It doesn’t need to be in a sheltered situation, as it is self-pollinating.

It isn’t demanding regarding soil, and once established the roots travel extensively, so it doesn’t need to be planted in a raised bed, or mulched underneath once established.

Luisa plum tree pruning

Plums are so versatile that they can even be used in salads, such as this one with lentils and prosciutto. Photo / Babiche Martens

It is so important to have a yearly pruning regime.

Pruning should be done in autumn during dry weather after fruiting has finished.

Autumn pruning reduces the risk of spreading silver leaf and bacterial diseases, to which all stone fruit are susceptible.

You don’t need to prune a Luisa plum to a particular shape, the traditional “vase” shape allowing multiple leaders, is fine.

Luisa plums respond well to vigorous pruning, as they can grow too large for the home garden, and the fruit can end up out of reach for harvesting.

As a result, it pays to thin out the higher branches and leave the lower fruiting branches.

The entire branch can be removed to its junction with the trunk or a lateral branch.

Pruning these tall branches will allow more light into the lower parts of the tree, encouraging flowering and fruiting.

It is sometimes said that a bird should be able to fly easily through the tree, once it is pruned.

Branches that are 30-40° from the horizontal ones will have much more fruit than vertical ones, which is another reason for removing vigorous upright shoots.

If a branch is overshadowing a lower one which is at a convenient picking height, it makes sense to remove the higher one.

I checked out a few suppliers of this plum and you may need to have a few fewer coffees if you want to purchase one, but it will be so worth it!

The price ranges from $50-$70, so it will pay to shop around.

Look after your Luisa plum and you will be rewarded with buckets of mouthwatering plums, but a word of advice, you may need some bird netting to throw over when close to fruiting as birds are rather partial to the sweetness of these plums…enjoy.