Red-leaf plum is a small deciduous tree or shrub of Prunus in Rosaceae. Its leaves are purple, gorgeous and charming, especially in spring and autumn. It is a common ornamental and colorful tree species and is widely cultivated in China. Red-leaf plums are often used in the greening of courtyards, squares and residential areas, and also in streets as roadside trees. Among them, the greening of squares, courtyards and residential areas mostly appears in the form of shrubs, and the greening of street trees is mostly arboreal cultivation.

Different tree types of red-leaf plum determine different construction methods.

Shrubby tree type Shrubby tree type means that the roots of red-leaf plum sprout more, are clustered and are shrub-like. Shrubby red-leaf plums do not need too much pruning and mainly grow naturally. Pruning only in autumn and winter, the main pruning methods are sprouting at the base and pruning short branches.

1) Sprouting at the base: Red-leaf plum has strong sprouting ability, and it is easy to sprout shoots at the roots of clustered trees, and then wither to form dead branches, which affects ventilation and hygiene. In autumn and winter management, the thin sprouting strips should be removed in time to ensure the ventilation and sanitary conditions of trees.

2) Remove the long branches: Red-leaf plum grows strongly. In the case of adequate nutrition, long branches will grow wildly, so they can be controlled by pinching in spring and summer and cutting them in time in autumn and winter.

Arbor type Arbor type refers to single-stem red-leaf plum, which is mostly used for greening street trees. Tree-shaped red-leaf plum is pruned more at seedling stage, and once it is planted, it only needs thinning and chopping.

1) seedling management: the germination ability and growth potential of red-leaf plum are very strong, so the seedling cultivation and pruning of tree-shaped red-leaf plum are very important. First of all, we should do a good job of wiping buds and sprouting strips, and wipe root buds and trunk branches in time in spring to ensure that the trunk gets enough nutrients to grow; Secondly, it should be cut off in time, and it should be cut off at about 1.5-2 meters in winter to promote the emergence of first-class lateral branches. The side branches that grow too fast should be picked and cut off in time to control the virtual length. Finally, the seedlings need careful care before leaving the nursery, including the principles of timely erasing roots and trunk buds, shear center pruning to control excessive growth, giving priority to spring and winter, supplemented by summer and autumn.

2) Thinning after greening and planting: The management of red-leaf plum after greening and planting is relatively simple, and the main pruning is thinning after defoliation in winter. Branching refers to thinning out too many sprouting branches, weak branches and branches with pests and diseases, improving the ventilation and light transmission of red-leaf plums and promoting the healthy growth of trees; Short-cutting refers to moderately short-cutting branches with great growth potential according to the tree type to inhibit their disorderly growth, affect the tree type and ensure the overall neatness and beauty of the tree. Branching and cutting can also be carried out in summer and autumn without affecting the landscape effect.