Planting guide

When to plant plum

Reliable, heavy-cropping stone fruit; some types are self-fertile. In Melbourne it goes in Jun–Aug.

Start as: Potted plant or Bare-root plant
Ready in: 3+ years to the first crop
Spacing: 400 cm
Depth: 0 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means plum can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Townsville	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Mackay	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
London	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Manchester	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Edinburgh	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
New York City	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Chicago	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Austin	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Toronto	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Paris	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Berlin	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant plum

Plant bare-root in winter in sun.
Check pollination needs; buy a partner if required.
Prune lightly in summer to avoid silver leaf.
Thin heavy crops and net against birds.

Plum varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Santa Rosa Classicheavy-cropper · 16–21 wksPurple-red plum with tangy-sweet flavour
Satsuma Classicsweet · colourful · 16–21 wksRed-fleshed Japanese plum
Mariposa Classicsweet · 16–21 wksLarge dark plum
Angeleno Classicstorage · 16–21 wksLate, firm dark plum
Victoria Classicself-fertile · 16–21 wksBritish dessert plum
Greengage Adventuroussweet · heirloom · 16–21 wksHoneyed green plums

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Garlic, Chive, Comfrey

Plum by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Lemon · Lime · Apple · Fig · Avocado · Banana

Not sure plum is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now