Beach plum

Sun

Full sun for the best flowering and fruiting; tolerates light shade.

Water

Water regularly while establishing; moderately drought-tolerant once rooted. Water during prolonged dry spells if growing it for fruit.

Soil

Well-drained sandy or gravelly soil, preferably acidic to neutral. Avoid waterlogged ground; salt-spray tolerance does not mean tolerance of regular seawater flooding.

Height

4-8 ft (1.2-2.4 m), occasionally taller in sheltered, fertile soil

Spread

4-8 ft (1.2-2.4 m), widening into a colony through suckers

Flowers

Mid- to late spring; small white flowers appear before or with the emerging leaves.

Foliage

Small, oval, finely toothed green leaves with paler, slightly hairy undersides; autumn colour is usually yellow.

Growth

Moderate

Care needed

Medium

• Pollinators
• Drought tolerant
• Cold hardy
• Wildlife
• Low allergen
• Edible

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Moderate

Toughness

Very tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   1.6 ft (0.5 m)

2. After 1 year

   2.5 ft (0.76 m)

3. After 2 years

   3 ft (1 m)

4. After 3 years

   4 ft (1.3 m)

5. After 5 years

   6 ft (1.8 m)

   full size

About 5 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Toxic

Native to

the US

Growth rate

Moderate

• Plant two unrelated seedlings or two different fruiting selections with overlapping bloom; two plants of the same clone are not a reliable pollination pair.
• Water deeply during dry weather in the first two growing seasons, allowing the soil surface to dry between waterings.
• Apply 2-3 in (5-8 cm) of mulch over the root area, keeping it clear of the stems.
• Avoid heavy nitrogen feeding, which encourages leafy growth at the expense of fruit.
• Remove unwanted suckers at their point of origin if you do not want a spreading thicket.

Pruning. Prune lightly in dry weather in summer, after harvest where practical, to reduce the risk of silver leaf infection. Remove dead, diseased and crossing branches, and occasionally take an old stem back to ground level; avoid shearing off the fruiting wood.

Pick the plums in late summer to early autumn when fully coloured, slightly soft and easily detached; ripe fruit is usually purple to nearly black, though some plants bear red or yellow fruit. Expect a first substantial crop about 3-5 years after planting, sometimes longer for small seedlings, with yields varying between years. Remove the stones before cooking;

Autumn

Plant in well-drained ground while the soil is workable, or defer planting until spring in very cold regions.

Early spring

Refresh mulch, check soil moisture and remove unwanted suckers.

Spring

Check that both pollination partners flower together; avoid insecticides while bees are visiting.

Summer

Water during prolonged drought and inspect fruit for rot or insect damage.

Late summer

Pick ripe fruit in several passes and use taut, wildlife-safe netting if birds are taking the crop.

Late summer to early autumn

After harvest, prune lightly in dry weather and remove rotten or mummified fruit.

• Use as an informal coastal hedge where wind and salt spray limit less tolerant fruit bushes.
• Plant in a sunny edible border with other fruiting shrubs, leaving room to harvest and manage suckers.
• Group on a sandy bank to form a low, spreading thicket that helps hold the soil.
• Combine with native grasses and low flowering perennials for a loose coastal planting with spring blossom and late-season fruit.

Garden styles it suits: Coastal, Edible landscape, Wildlife garden, Native hedgerow, New England and Homestead.

Plant it with: Little bluestem, Switchgrass, Bearberry, Butterfly weed, Seaside goldenrod and Bayberry.

Wildlife: Spring flowers provide pollen and nectar for bees and other insects. Birds and mammals eat the fruit, and established thickets offer nesting cover; like other native cherries and plums, it also supports caterpillars.

• Poor fruit set: provide a genetically different beach plum flowering at the same time, maintain bee access and avoid excessive nitrogen; late frost can still destroy a crop.
• Brown rot: remove rotting and mummified fruit promptly, clear fallen fruit and thin crowded branches to improve airflow.
• Black knot: cut out the hard black swellings in dry weather, cutting well below visible infection, and dispose of infected wood.
• Plum curculio in eastern North America: look for crescent-shaped scars on young fruit, promptly collect dropped fruit and seek local advice on monitoring and control.

Ripe fruit flesh is edible for people, but the stone must be removed. Seeds inside the stones, leaves and stems contain cyanogenic compounds and can cause serious poisoning in people, cats, dogs and horses if eaten; wilted leaves are a particular livestock hazard. Do not crack or eat the kernels, and keep pruning waste away from animals.

• American plum (Prunus americana)

  Usually a larger shrub or small tree with larger, more sharply and coarsely toothed leaves; beach plum has smaller, more finely toothed leaves and is closely associated with coastal sands.

• Sand cherry (Prunus pumila)

  Usually lower-growing, with noticeably narrower leaves and small, nearly black cherry-like fruit; beach plum has broader oval leaves and rounder, plum-like fruit.

The common name refers to its coastal beach habitat, and the botanical epithet maritima means 'of the sea'.

Propagation. Grow from cleaned seed given a period of moist cold stratification; germination can be uneven and seedlings vary in fruit quality. Rooted suckers can be lifted while dormant from own-root plants. Named selections are usually propagated by cuttings, budding or grafting to preserve their characteristics.

Accepted botanical name

Prunus maritima

In the US and Canada

Native in the lower 48 states.

Native range

Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Masachusettes, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode I. and Virginia.

Measured

Soil pH 5.8 to 7.7. Average height 366 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.