# Beach Plum (Prunus maritima)

> The dune plum of the Atlantic coast: salt-proof, drought-proof and covered in white bloom each May.

Category: Nut & Fruit Trees. Grown from seed by Blue Whale Trees. Web version: https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/beach-plum/

![Beach plum (Prunus maritima) shrub covered in white flowers in spring](https://bluewhaletrees.com/img/plants/beach-plum-h1610-800.jpg)
*Photo: David J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Prunus_maritima_7zz.jpg)*

## Facts

- Type: Shrub
- Mature height: 4 to 8 ft
- USDA hardiness zones: 3 to 8
- Grows wild in: The coast and sandy barrens
- Native range: 11 states, north to [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME) and south and west to [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA) ([Connecticut](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=CT), [Delaware](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=DE), [Maine](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=ME), [Maryland](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MD), [Massachusetts](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=MA), [New Hampshire](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NH), [New Jersey](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NJ), [New York](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=NY), [Pennsylvania](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=PA), [Rhode Island](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=RI) and [Virginia](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/native/index.html.md?state=VA))
- Sun: Full
- Soil moisture: Dry
- Growth rate: Medium
- Flowers: April to May
- Fruit: Plums, August to October
- First crop: 3 to 4 years
- Mature spread: 6 ft
- Traits: Showy flowers, Edible, Wildlife value, Drought tolerant, Salt tolerant, Bears young, Erosion control
- Sold as: Saplings, Seed

Heights and zones are typical ranges for the species in cultivation; local conditions and seed source shift them.

## Availability

Saplings ship [bare-root](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/planting-bare-root-trees-on-arrival/index.html.md), [usually 12 to 18 inches tall](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/small-sapling-or-big-transplant/index.html.md), in the dormant season, and their [height and age](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/reading-a-nursery-listing/index.html.md) are stated with the price, once available. Live plants ship February to May and October to November. Not priced yet: leave an email on the web page for one email when it is priced, with a code for 10% off the plants in that order, not shipping or tax, or write to captain@bluewhaletrees.com.

In bundles: Dry Sandy Site Pack.

## Notes

Beach plum grows in pure sand on the coast from Maine to Maryland, and it thrives far from the sea. The purple fruit ripens in September and makes the famous Cape Cod jelly. Low, spreading and tough, it is ideal for seaside gardens, road edges and dry banks. Branches buried by shifting sand put out new roots, and it is planted in dune restoration to hold the sand. It needs a second, unrelated seedling nearby to set fruit, so plant two or more. Plant it as a low fruiting hedge, or as a jelly patch of three or four bushes.

## Size, growth and what to expect

On the dunes beach plum forms low, spreading thickets 4 to 8 feet tall, and the USDA plant guide notes that a well-tended inland shrub can reach 18 feet. Thickets spread up to 20 feet across. It grows at a medium pace, roughly a foot and a half a year in its youth on an average site, which is the rate our growth estimator uses for it.

Planted stock can bear from its third year, by the Rutgers account, with harvest from late August into October. A heavy crop is often followed by a light one. White flowers half an inch across open in April or May before the leaves. The fruit is a cherry-shaped plum half an inch to an inch across, usually dark purple, and its flavor runs from sweet to tart or bitter from bush to bush. Birds and small mammals take the fruit and shelter in the thickets.

It grows wild on the older dunes of the Atlantic coast from the Canadian Maritimes south to northern Virginia.

## How to grow Beach Plum

Beach plum wants full sun and sandy, fast-draining soil, and it grows well inland. It stands up to salt spray, wind and drought, and it rots in heavy, wet ground. It fits a dune, a dry bank or a roadside, spaced 6 feet apart.

Plant bare-root saplings while dormant, early spring or after leaf drop. Dig a hole twice the width of the roots and no deeper, set the root flare at grade, and backfill with the sand or soil you removed. Mulch lightly, two inches, kept off the stems. Sow pits in fall two inches deep under hardware cloth against mice.

Water once a week through the first summer, then rarely. Rabbits and voles chew the bark and deer browse the shoots, so use a wire guard for the first two or three years. Prune in late winter only to remove dead or crowded wood.

Beach plum needs a second, unrelated seedling nearby to set fruit. Fruit ripens in late August or September. Plum curculio and brown rot can take the crop in humid years. Seedlings bear within about four years.

## Sources

- [USDA NRCS Plant Guide: beach plum, Prunus maritima](https://plants.sc.egov.usda.gov/DocumentLibrary/plantguide/pdf/pg_prma2.pdf)
- [Rutgers NJAES fact sheet FS1297, Ultra-Niche Crops Series: Beach Plum](https://njaes.rutgers.edu/fs1297/)
- [Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Prunus maritima](https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=PRMA2)
- [USDA Forest Service, Woody Plant Seed Manual: Prunus chapter](https://www.fs.usda.gov/nsl/Wpsm/Prunus.pdf)
- [Virginia Tech Dendrology: beach plum, Prunus maritima](https://dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=817)
- [NatureServe Explorer: Prunus maritima](https://explorer.natureserve.org/Taxon/ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.146886/Prunus_maritima)
- [Flora of North America, vol. 9: Prunus maritima](http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250100397)
- [Trees and Shrubs Online: Prunus maritima](https://www.treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/prunus/prunus-maritima/)
- [USDA NRCS PLANTS Database: Prunus maritima](https://plants.usda.gov/plant-profile/PRMA2)
- [Native Plant Trust, Garden Plant Finder: Prunus maritima](https://plantfinder.nativeplanttrust.org/plant/Prunus-maritima)

## Read before planting

- [Ten planting mistakes that quietly kill trees](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/ten-planting-mistakes/index.html.md)
- [Transplanting young trees: timing, water and protection](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/transplanting-young-trees/index.html.md)
- [Protecting young trees from voles, rabbits, deer and squirrels](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/protecting-trees-from-animals/index.html.md)
- [Native trees and shrubs for dry, sandy soil: the plants of barrens and dunes, and how to grow them](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/native-trees-and-shrubs-for-dry-sandy-soil/index.html.md)
- [Why a tree flowers but bears no fruit: it may be a male, lack a partner nearby, or be too young](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/why-a-tree-flowers-but-never-fruits/index.html.md)
- [The habitat around a tree is part of the tree](https://bluewhaletrees.com/articles/habitat-around-a-tree/index.html.md)

## Related

- We grow 14 other plums and cherries (Prunus): [all of them](https://bluewhaletrees.com/shop/index.html.md?q=prunus)
- Plants that share its sun and soil: [Nantucket Serviceberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/nantucket-serviceberry/index.html.md), [Woolly Beach Heather](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/woolly-beach-heather/index.html.md), [Creeping Juniper](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/creeping-juniper/index.html.md) and [Northern Bayberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-bayberry/index.html.md)
- Same size, similar character: [Allegheny Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/allegheny-plum/index.html.md), [Sand Cherry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/sand-cherry/index.html.md), [Scrub Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/scrub-plum/index.html.md) and [Northern Snowberry](https://bluewhaletrees.com/plants/northern-snowberry/index.html.md)
- [Planting-site check](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md): for a thrive, struggle or fail verdict on Beach Plum, add ?species=beach-plum with zone (2 to 10), sun (full, part, shade) and moisture (dry, average, wet) to that address; for example, the verdict for zone 3, part sun and average soil as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/site-check/index.html.md?species=beach-plum&zone=3&sun=part&moisture=average
- [Companion species for Beach Plum](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/companions/index.html.md?species=beach-plum): the natives that share its ground and the plants that pair with it in a yard.
- [Tree growth estimator](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md): how the height and trunk projections are made; the estimate for Beach Plum as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/growth/index.html.md?species=beach-plum (add height=, years= and site= poor, average or good)
- [Seed sowing planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md): how Beach Plum is sown, in the chart for every species (treatment, cold days, depth, timing); the dated plan for it as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/sowing/index.html.md?species=beach-plum (add state= and zone= for your own frost dates, method=fridge for the refrigerator route)
- [Pollination planner](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md): what Beach Plum needs for a crop and how many to plant, in the table for every species; the verdict for 2 of them as Markdown is at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/pollination/index.html.md?plants=beach-plum:2
- [Planting-window tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md): when to plant Beach Plum where you live, as a fall and a spring window from the local frost dates; the windows as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/planting-window/index.html.md?species=beach-plum&state=MO&zone=6 with your own state and zone in place of those
- [Planting-distance tool](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md): how far Beach Plum goes from a house, a septic field, a walk, wires, a property line and the next tree; the distances as Markdown are at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/distance/index.html.md?species=beach-plum&near=house,septic,pavement,wires,boundary,tree
- [Bloom and fruit calendar](https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md): the months Beach Plum flowers and fruits, in the grid for every species; its own row and the gaps of a planting with it as Markdown at https://bluewhaletrees.com/tools/calendar/index.html.md?plants=beach-plum