Greengage

Sun

Full sun; shelter from strong winds and avoid frost pockets, where spring blossom is easily damaged.

Water

Keep the root zone evenly moist, especially during establishment and fruit swelling; avoid waterlogged ground.

Soil

Deep, fertile, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil, preferably slightly acidic to neutral. Avoid shallow, drought-prone soil.

Height

12-25 ft (3.7-7.6 m), depending on rootstock and training; dwarfing rootstocks can keep trees smaller.

Spread

10-20 ft (3-6 m), depending on rootstock and training.

Flowers

White blossom in early to mid-spring, usually before or as the leaves emerge.

Foliage

Oval, toothed, medium-green leaves, sometimes turning yellow in autumn.

Growth

Moderate.

Care needed

Medium

• Pollinators
• Wildlife
• Low allergen
• Edible

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

Difficulty

Moderate

Toughness

Fairly tough

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

1. Planting day

   7 ft (2 m)

2. After 1 year

   7 ft (2.2 m)

3. After 2 years

   8 ft (2.4 m)

4. After 3 years

   8 ft (2.5 m)

5. After 5 years

   10 ft (2.9 m)

About 20 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

Growth rate

Moderate

• Water deeply during dry spells for the first two growing seasons and whenever established trees carry swelling fruit.
• Apply compost and an organic mulch in spring, keeping mulch clear of the trunk.
• Feed in early spring if growth is weak; avoid excessive nitrogen, which encourages shoots rather than fruit.
• Stake newly planted trees where needed, checking ties regularly and removing support once roots are secure.
• Thin heavy crops after the natural early-summer fruit drop, leaving roughly 2-3 in (5-8 cm) between fruits.
• Check the cultivar's pollination requirements before buying; many crop better with a compatible European plum flowering nearby, even when partly self-fertile.

Pruning. Prune in dry weather in late spring or summer, rather than winter, to reduce silver leaf and bacterial canker risk. Develop an open framework, remove dead or crossing branches, and prune established trees lightly to retain productive short shoots.

Pick individual fruits in late summer or early autumn when they soften slightly, smell sweet and detach with a gentle lift and twist; ripe fruit may remain green, so taste is a better guide than colour alone. Grafted trees usually give a first worthwhile crop about 3-6 years after planting, sometimes longer on vigorous rootstocks.

Late autumn to early spring

Plant dormant trees when soil is workable and neither frozen nor waterlogged; check rootstock size and pollination compatibility.

Early spring

Apply compost or a suitable fruit-tree feed if needed, then mulch without covering the trunk.

Spring

Protect blossom on small trees during forecast frosts with fleece, removing it during the day for pollinating insects.

Early summer

Thin crowded fruit after the natural drop and check for aphids and damaged shoots.

Summer

Water during dry spells and prune lightly in dry weather.

Late summer to early autumn

Harvest ripe fruit in several passes and remove rotting or mummified fruit.

Autumn

Clear fallen diseased fruit and leaves, and check tree ties and guards.

• Plant as a small orchard tree with other compatible European plums for useful crops and spring blossom.
• Train as a fan against a sunny wall or fence where space is limited and fruit needs extra warmth.
• Use a suitably dwarfing rootstock in a kitchen garden, keeping the tree within easy picking reach.
• Combine with low flowering herbs around the outer edge of the mulched root zone to attract pollinating insects.

Garden styles it suits: Backyard orchard, Edible landscape, Potager (kitchen garden), Cottage garden, Homestead and English country.

Plant it with: European plum, Chives, Thyme, Sweet alyssum, Calendula and Lavender.

Wildlife: Spring flowers provide pollen and nectar for bees and other insects. Birds and mammals eat ripe fruit; net small trees carefully with taut, wildlife-safe netting if crop protection is needed.

• Poor fruit set: check for blossom frost damage, inadequate winter chilling or lack of a compatible pollinating plum; choose a locally suitable cultivar and protect blossom where practical.
• Brown rot: remove infected and mummified fruit promptly, thin crowded crops and prune for airflow.
• Silver leaf or bacterial canker: prune only in dry late-spring or summer weather; remove affected wood back to healthy tissue and clean tools between cuts.
• Fruit-boring pests, including plum moth in the UK and parts of Europe and plum curculio in eastern North America: collect damaged fallen fruit promptly and use locally recommended monitoring and control measures.

Ripe fruit flesh is edible for people. Kernels inside the stones, leaves and bark contain cyanogenic compounds and can cause serious poisoning in people, cats, dogs and horses if chewed or eaten; wilted leaves are a particular livestock hazard. Stones also pose choking and intestinal blockage risks, so remove them before offering any fruit to pets.

• Other European plums (Prunus domestica)

  Greengages belong within the European plum group and usually have small, rounded, green to yellow-green fruit with very sweet flesh; other plums may be longer and blue, purple, red or yellow.

• Mirabelle plum (Prunus domestica subsp. syriaca)

  Mirabelles usually bear smaller, round, golden-yellow fruit, often with red spotting, rather than the typically greenish fruit of greengages.

• Cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera)

  Cherry plums generally flower earlier and bear small red or yellow fruits with more variable sweetness; many ornamental forms also have purple leaves.

The English name greengage commemorates Sir William Gage, who helped introduce these green-fruited plums to England in the eighteenth century.

Propagation. Usually propagated by budding or grafting a named cultivar onto a suitable plum rootstock. Seedlings do not reliably reproduce the parent's fruit quality, and root suckers from grafted trees usually belong to the rootstock.

Accepted botanical name

Prunus domestica insititia Prunus domestica subsp. italica is an older name for Prunus domestica insititia.

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