The blood plum inspires numerous gardeners every year with its pink blossoms. With its dark red foliage, it is also an eye-catcher the rest of the year.
Appearance and genus of blood plum
The blood plum is a subspecies of the cherry plum, which gets its name from the intense dark red to black-red colored foliage. The ornamental tree grows as a shrub or small to medium-sized tree. Trees are mostly available as half stem or standard stem.
In spring, the flowers appear at the same time as the leaves. They are white with pink stamens or completely pink. The leaves are oval, tapering and jagged at the edges. After flowering, edible cherries develop from the end of April. Caution: The seeds inside the kernels are poisonous!
Characteristics of Blood Plum
- Family: Rosaceae
- Subfamily: Spiraeoideae
- Genus: Prunus
- Type: Cherry Plum
- Subspecies: Blood Plum
- Botanical name: Prunus cerasifera
- Growth: 300 - 400 cm
- Growth width 200 - 500 cm
- Flowering: April
Growth and growth behavior of the blood plum
The ornamental tree grows between five and eight meters high, some specimens even reach more than twelve meters. The width is three to five meters. The growth is between 20 and 35 centimeters per year. The growth can be well controlled with targeted cuts. As a solitary plant, the blood plum comes into its own in the garden. It is also an attractive eye-catcher with its intensely colored foliage, which retains its strong color throughout the summer. Blood plums also grow as a container plant. Here, however, special dwarf breeds are more practical.
Location and soil conditions
A sunny location is ideal, but the blood plum also thrives in semi-shade. It is absolutely windproof. The plant needs a nutrient-rich, slightly calcareous soil. For young plants, the soil should be loosened well before planting. A substrate enriched with compost promotes growth.
Blood Plum Care Tips
Blood plums are undemanding and easy to care for.Regular watering is only necessary for newly planted trees or shrubs. If the wood has grown well, you only need to water during long summer dry periods. The frost-resistant wood does not need winter protection.
Fertilize Blood Plum
If the soil is nutrient-rich, no fertilizer is required, but compost can be worked in around the tree grate in spring. Blood plums in the bucket are grateful for a one-time application of complete fertilizer before flowering.
Cut Blood Plum
Pruning is important in two ways: it affects growth habit and is necessary for bud development. Blood plums that are never pruned bloom more and more sparsely. However, you should not overdo the cutting, otherwise the plant will form unsightly broom shoots. The right time for pruning is after flowering.
For young blood plums, all faded shoots are pruned except for about five remaining buds. With older trees, the oldest branches are removed to ensure rejuvenation. If the blood plum gets too big, you can cut out or shorten a number of branches, but if possible not the main branch! Favorable interfaces are directly above a branch.
Prevention of pests and diseases
The right location and good soil usually ensure he althy, resilient blood plums. Prolonged wet weather can lead to certain diseases.
Shotshot disease is a fungal infection. The leaves get small brown spots, eventually pieces come off, so that the leaf looks perforated. Affected leaves must be removed and disposed of with household waste. As a measure, spray with fungicides or special copper preparations, even before the leaves shoot out next spring.
The Monilia Peak Drought is also caused by fungi. You can recognize the disease by withered shoot tips. Combating it is difficult because the fungal spores spread extremely quickly and extensively. Affected plant parts are best removed extensively and completely destroyed, branches cut down to the he althy wood. An airy crown can also curb the spread. There are also commercially available crop protection products that are effective against Monilia.
Aphids appear occasionally. As long as the infestation is limited, vigorous hosing down with a hose helps.