If it was mine I would wait and chop it down next season. I would also probably do it in stages 'cause I'm a chicken and would be worried one big severe chop would result in one dead tree. LOL, but that's just me.

Have you considered air layering? You could air layer the top and have two trees? The top could turn out to be stock or you could use it for your landscaping. No sense in wasting an opportunity to have more material.

I think youÂre right and I've decided to just wait for next spring and do the chopping, but do it all at once. I thought about reducing it over time, but these plums grow on family land and I've cut them down almost to the ground and they bud back pretty well. They even sprout from shallow roots and form large colonies where they grow and can be pests that way sometimes. Hopefully this one will bud back and survive the trauma. I also decided to wait to do any root cutting until the following spring. IÂm not in any great hurry.

IÂm really not interested in air layering this though because I have an abundant supply of these plum trees. In fact, IÂll collect a few more this spring now that I know I can make them live through the ordeal.

We'll see :)