Just so you know, apricots are very susceptible to bacterial diseases, and it is recommended they be summer pruned, not pruned in the spring, at least in California. If you see brown oozing sap, it's likely bacterial, and next year you will want to hold off in the spring and prune in late summer. Apricot branches on a whole are brittle, so I have read the main thing to worry about is letting them grow too far horizontally or get too much fruit on them. Your little branch should be fine. Carla in Sac

"If I remove one branch of the "Y", wouldn't that destroy overall shape of the tree? I thought we need to train the tree to wine glass/ tulip shape?" Bluesky, That's the shape I like best and grow all my peach trees to an "open vase". I was really just brainstorming on how you might prune your peach tree. I've never tried to grow a peach next to a wall and I assumed yours may not be getting enough sun (partly because of the wall and partly because of the lack of vigor in the tree). My idea was to grow your trunk really tall (above the deck fence) before the tree is allowed to branch out, so all the foliage would be above the deck wall in full sun. Now that I understand your tree was planted in late summer, that's probably normal amount of growth and your tree may well be getting enough sun behind the deck wall. In that case, you could train it to a typical low vase/open-center tree and keep both branches of the "Y". You might want to train more of the tree's structure away from the deck fence. It makes for a lop-sided tree, but I've done it for some of my trees planted close to property lines in my backyard. One last thing, if you are going to train the tree to a low open-center, I'd probably pull the two branches of the "Y" down a little bit. Just take a couple clothes hangers, straighten them out and push them in the ground as far as you can (these will be anchors). Then bend the two branches down some (but not so far that they break) and tie the the branches down with some string.

That sounds very much like winter cold damage. I removed a Hunza (on Citation rootstock) this year due to almost those same symptoms. Is there any growth lower down on the main trunk? That is what mine was doing. It might be a goner. Pale green leaves, no new growth, small leaves, leaf drop.... Mine did put out a bunch of new growth down low on the trunk which i really didn't feel like bothering with, so i chopped the tree down.

The conflicting information you find is usually the result of the lack of keeping up with current trends and findings. Many old schoolers believe they know all they need to know and seldom attend industry and trade seminars or partake of continuing education. This is a pretty rapidly evolving course of study and practices that were accepted and very commonplace in the past have frequently been found to be less effective than assumed or even counterproductive. And, not all horticulturists and arborists agree on all the practices :-) This is not a perfect world and sometimes old habits die very hard! btw, the nursery industry is not typically where one finds a lot of trained horticulturists -- the pay is generally not anywhere commensurate with the training :-) As to Ken's adamant statements about not voiding the warranty, I'd pretty much blow that off (sorry, Ken!). It is extremely unusual to find a plant warranty that extends longer than 12 months and many of the problems associated with improper planting practices (i.e., leaving on wire cages, NOT correcting root defects, planting too deeply etc.) will not manifest immediately. As the quoted text above indicates, the establishment period for planting/transplanting easily exceeds that 12 month period and a good many problems associated with poor planting practices will not become apparent until well after the warranty period is expired. btw, local nurseries here DO tend to recommend the removal of all wrappings and often their warranties will be voided if you DO NOT! As to bare rooting B&B trees, read the link. It explains very clearly how to properly seat and secure the root systems in the planting hole, frequently without the need for any staking. And the breaking of the root ball should not sever any major roots unless they were damaged by the digging in the first place. There is often some loss to fine feeder roots but the removal of the heavy clay encourages their replacement, which typically will happen much faster without its impediment. And it is the development of these feeder roots that is of critical importance. And the benefits generated by loosening and removing that heavy soil and being able to accurately assess and correct root defects, determine root flare and correct planting depth outway any temporary root loss. And to get back to the original issue, I see nothing in the shrubs illustrated that would urge me to any significant stem removal or pruning at this time.