When to harvest Plum in the UK
Plum is normally planted as a young grafted tree rather than sown from seed — seedlings do not come true to variety — so the dates below are harvest dates, not sowing dates.
Harvest dates by region
Plum is harvested at much the same time across the whole UK, so every region below reads the same. Planting time does shift by region, and Plot adjusts it from the Midlands and Lowland Wales baseline using Met Office average frost dates.
| Where you are | Harvest |
|---|---|
| South West Coast and Cornwall | early August to mid September |
| South Coast and Channel | early August to mid September |
| Greater London (Urban Heat Island) | early August to mid September |
| South East and Home Counties | early August to mid September |
| East Anglia | early August to mid September |
| Midlands and Lowland Wales | early August to mid September |
| Wales and West Coast | early August to mid September |
| Northern England | early August to mid September |
| Scotland Lowlands and Central Belt | early August to mid September |
| Scotland Highlands and Islands | early August to mid September |
| Northern Ireland | early August to mid September |
| Channel Islands and Isle of Man | early August to mid September |
Growing notes
Plant while dormant between November and March, on Pixy for a garden-sized tree, and expect fruit in about the fourth year. Plums over-crop badly: thin the young fruits in early summer to one every 5-8cm and prop heavily laden branches, or they snap.
At a glance
- Spacing
- 400 cm between plants
- Row spacing
- 450 cm
- Plants per m²
- 0.1
- Yield per plant
- 15.0 kg
- Sun
- Full sun
- Frost tender
- No
- Grows in a container
- Yes, 90 litres or more
- Minimum soil depth
- 45 cm
- Balcony rating
- 1 out of 5
What usually goes wrong
- silver leaf
- bacterial canker
- blossom wilt
- plum moth
- frost-damaged blossom
Related guides
Timings cross-checked against RHS guidance for plum.