How to prune a peach tree, help please

rjinga

16 years ago

I have 2 trees that were here when we moved in...and I need to figure out what parts to prune.

any tips would be helpful, thanks!!

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Comments (9)

Embothrium
16 years ago
Possibly you would be interested in trying this method.

Here is a link that might be useful: Simple Tree Training Technique for Peaches
rjinga
Original Author
16 years ago
I guess I should have also asked when to prune?
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austransplant
16 years ago
rjinka,

If you have a high speed connection, check out the video on You tube linked to below.

Here is a link that might be useful: U. Mass fruit advisor
rosefolly
16 years ago
That was simply fabulous. I am putting in a backyard orchard this winter and I included a peach tree. Now I know how to prune it. I'm going to be watching that video several times.

Thanks so much for posting that very helpful link.

Rosefolly
jellyman
16 years ago
Austransplant:

I also enjoyed the video, which I though was excellent. Boy, that guy really goes after it with those loppers. This video conveys an important message: Proper pruning of a peach tree is more than just a little tinkering around the edges. It is the establishment of a scaffold of few branches, all of which are exposed to full sunlight. With peach trees, less is more.

My peach trees are not quite that spare, but I also prune after thinning and bagging the peaches, with the objective of exposing each fruit to as much sunlight as possible.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
austransplant
16 years ago
Don,

Being still "pruning challenged" I find a good video worth a 1000 words. The U Mass fruit advisor has a whole series of videos on orcharding: a nice one on pruning central leader apple trees (set to the Star Wars theme), various orchard reports on different varieties, and so forth. Just search YouTube or Google videos with key words like orchard, U Mass fruit advisor and the like.

There is also a very good series of videos on apple tree pruning being put out by an English orchardist, called "Fruitwise". Search Youtube or google videos with the keyword "Fruitwise". These contains detailed instructions on thinning, pruning young trees, using the pruning saw, removing large branches. It's excellent stuff.

One thought I had re the video on pruning peach trees is that possibly the commerical orchardist with a large number of trees can afford to be more brutal than the home orchardist with just one or a few trees. I'd like to know your thoughts on this.
rjinga
Original Author
16 years ago
The UMASS video was invaluable thanks a bunch for posting it...sure makes it very clear what should be done. I am also curious about the same question above...One or two trees? vs an orchard full? will it still just simply allow the one or two trees to produce to their best capacity?

I'll hope someone comes back with an answer to this...

One question that still remains for me:
****** when to prune********

thanks to all who have responded.
austransplant
16 years ago
Most sources say not to prune stone fruit, including peach trees, until early spring so as to prevent disease entering the wounds (I think the idea is that unlike apples and pears, stone fruit wounds do not heal quickly in the winter). Some suggest pruning when the trees are in flower. As far as I can tell, pruning peaches is a balancing act. Since they only fruit on one year old wood, they need to be cut back pretty hard to stimulate growth of new wood for next year's peaches. (If you don't do so, you will get peaches, but the peaches may now be on hard to get at extremities of the tree.) On the other hand, you don't want to hack off all the branches on which peaches are being formed for the current year and be left with no peaches in the current year. Pruning while the tree is in flower, it is said, will let you determine just how many peaches you will still get, corresponding to the flowers you leave (of course, you will still need to thin to get decent sized peaches -- 6" between peaches -- so you must take that into account too).

Hopefully Don will chime in with his thoughts on this matter, as he has had a lot of experience growing peaches in a mid-Atlantic climate, for after all what counts as spring in the northern part of the country is a lot different from what counts as spring here in Maryland or further south.
greenwitch
16 years ago
I have to sort out how to do this AND manage all the grafting I've done on some trees - unless I had the foresight to arrange things so each scaffold branch was a different cultivar.