Topic: Pruning fruit trees so as they do not grow too high.

[davee52uk]

Some time ago I went to a farm where they had a series of fruit trees which had all grown to about 7ft high but were fully grown. They would all have been easy to pick from.

I have a small plum and a damson tree. I want to prune these so that they don't grow too tall put produce normal crops.

Any advice ?

[John85]

Remember that inclining is as important as pruning.Bend down any branches that grow too vertically.

[ACE]

Wrong time of year to start with. Also the trees you have seen have been grown on dwarf rootstocks which has kept them as small trees. Your established trees will never be any good if you try to dwarf them by pruning. All you can do is thin them out which opens up the tree and stops the fruit going mouldy on the branch.

[goodlife]

I agree with others.
The rootstock that the tree is crafted will have lot of saying for the tree's final size. Even if the tree is not crafted into the most dwarfing stock, it can still be kept reasonably small by very careful pruning and training, but that is not just one off job during the year...there have to be definite 'regime' to this to keep the growing habit restricted and the trees need this attention few times over the year...every year.
You said your trees are still young... I assume they are free standing..depending how young and small, you can start carefully pruning the height back over next summer. Early summer you reduce the height of some of the longest branches and once these cuts start growing new growth, you pinch those and rest of the new growth back down to few inches.
If your trees are not crafted suitable rootstock to start with..your trees will end up being very bushy and sturdy but the height will eventually creep in, even if you would carry on pruning this way every year..it is haaard work and you'll end up doing it on ladders..
Other way to deal with the height is more drastic and admittedly doesn't look good...you make some drastic pruning and as you get new branches that are still soft and whippy...those are bend down to and angle with weights...aiming to kind of weeping look..this downwards growth will slow down the growth on those branches..but bend it too much and you end up with branch that struggles to stay alive.
There is many ways of restricting size of fruit trees, stone fruits are not being the easiest ones for this, so I would recommend reading some books about it and if you still feel like you have commitment for the job..go for it..it ain't difficult, just lot of effort.

[Robert_Brenchley]

It's a combination of rootstock and pruning. Were they freestanding, espaliers, or what?

[Russell]

 I think it is a very worthwhile purpose to try and keep your fruit trees down to a reasonable height. It is the only practical way to go if you have ambitions to care for your trees properly in pruning thinning pest control and last but not least picking. In back gardens near me I see apple and pear trees over 20 feet high which are absolute havens for pests and diseases, and cannot even be picked by their ageing owners, so sadly 90% of their fruit goes to waste and what is worse their owners take little pride in their fruit trees, seeing them more as a burden than a source of pleasure.
  I'm afraid I cannot offer you much practical advice, only cautions. As others on this forum have already said, damsons and plums do not respond at all well to pruning and are best left alone as much as possible. If it is absolutely essential to cut them, only do so whilst the trees are growing strongly in summer or they are liable to contract the dreaded Silver Leaf disease which is a fatal fungus.
 On a more positive note, apples and pears generally are easier to control than stone fruit. Apples have a wide choice of rootstocks, whereas pears are more tolerant of pruning. The foregoing does of course depend on variety, amongst apples for example it is hopeless to try holding a Bramley in check but a James Grieve is more biddable.