Greengage problem

Hi,
I have a two year old greengage tree which seems to be covered on its trunk and branches with a green powdery substance. The leaves on the tree are not affected and it has just finished flowering.
It didn't produce any fruit last year.
Please can someone help and suggest how we might cure this. Many thanks.

 

Bit difficult to say, but does it rub off on clothes etc. and stain them?
I think it is most likely to be just an algae problem, it doesn't harm the tree as such, and is just unsightly mostly.
Fruiting is a different problem, cant help there other than to say it might be down to pollination, if no small fruits were there after flowering last year.

 

Thank you both very much for your help. I am very new to gardening and didn't know about winter washes or anything. I will definitely get some for next winter.
I'm relieved that you both don't think it is anything serious. Thanks again .

 

Have all the blossoms fallen off yet? If not it may be a little early to determine if any fruit has set or not. I don't think you should be expecting any fruit in the first year or two but if you had blossom then you have potential. Late frosts can damage the blossom and prevent fruiting. Also you need to have a cross compatible plum tree of some sort near by and hope the bees do their thing. My plum trees have finished blossoming and im keeping a watchful eye to see if any fruit is forming. Hopefully you'll get some.

 

Hi,
Yes it has finished blossoming now and the leaves are looking very healthy - it is just the trunk and branches that are coated in this green powdery dust. It stains my fingers if I touch it but I wasn't aware that you could get a "wash" for trees. We have a Victoria Plum tree on the other side of the garden so I'm presuming that might be a good thing from what you say!
We always seem to get a lot of fruit from the plum tree, although it needs pruning, so that is our next job!!
Wish we knew more about gardening - we are complete novices and it all seems to be trial and error!
Thank you very much for your help.

 

Thank you for your advice. The leaves on my tree look really healthy - it just seems to be the trunk and branches which has the green powdery coating. It stains my fingers if I touch it. I will try a winter wash as suggested in an earlier post.
I have a Victoria Plum tree on the other side of my garden so hopefully that will be a good thing as you mentioned it might help it to fruit.
We usually do very well with the plum tree but it needs pruning so that will be our next job!! It's very much trial and error I'm afraid.
Thank you very much for your help.

 

Thank you so much for the pruning information. It is very useful to know what we should be aiming for! Last year we lost a lot of fruit because the tree seemed very congested in the middle - obviously we should be trying to thin it out in the centre.
We have just bought a lovely little Christmas pippin apple tree so we can't wait for all the lovely plum and Apple crumbles we are going to have!!
Thanks again for your help - everyone is so lovely and helpful on here.
Enjoy your summer gardening - I bet your garden is beautiful ( unlike mine ).