You said there was a lot of rain - how is your drainage? Was the tree planted at a low spot in your yard? When the leaves poked through, did they shrivel and dry, or did they look over soaked and fall off? Peaches don't do well if they get too much water. If it's the latter of the two I would think it may be a good candidate for root rot. Otherwise I'm clueless too.

If you think it's root rot, get rid of the tree, don't compost it, or reuse any of that soil, dig up any of the roots in the soil and a few inches beyond for good measure. After that cover that soil area with a black plastic tarp or big garbage bag, and pin it down. You want the summer sun to heat up and cook the root rot right out of that soil. Make sure you clean any tools you used afterward as to not spread those spores. Give it a few weeks in the hot sun before replanting in that area.

In any case, don't give up on peaches - if this one doesn't make it, find a well drained spot, that's not in a low spot to put another tree. Use a copper fungicide spray.

OK... so, the tree is planted with the other trees but on a slightly higher elevation. it does slope a bit there but not much at all, you can barely tell. but the peach was at the higher part of the slope, it wasn't at the bottom. we have sandy soil and it seems to drain pretty well, but we had a TON of rain. I mean a TON. but my neighbors trees are doing just fine. it is a mystery. when the leaves finally started to poke through, which was weeks after my neighbors had poked through, they got just a millimeter long and then dried up and died. they didn't fall off at all. they're still on there all shriveled up and dead. :(

that is the weird part of it. it took forever before it did anything and then when it did, they just shriveled up and died. and only a few had poked through on one branch. it wasn't even the entire tree. but why the fuzzy whitish looking leaf buds?

ok, its not dead yet! I just looked and there are some new branches growing about a foot above the ground. not suckers, branches on the tree itself. so it wants to live still it looks like LOL! should I treat it as though it has a fungus and spray it? should I trim the branches off? or is this going to contribute to more disease at this point?

Gosh - I'm stumped ... At this point if I were you, I'd take a photo and email it to a local university master gardener. Or you could try the U of Georgia (who would know peaches better than them?)

http://www.hort.uga.edu/extension/mastergardener/

well, I asked the local orchard where I got my tree from and they said it is dead on top and nothing I can do. I don't think its dead on top as the little leaves that tried to come out are still there and some have a touch of green to them still but they're not growing and they're shriveled up. and the branches are bendy still and not stiff. so I feel like there is life left in it. maybe i"ll chop it a little and see what happens? I feel like I need to treat it for fungus or something but IDK. Nobody has answers for me ya know? I hate to spray for something that I don't know for sure the answer. maybe I"ll email the people mentioned above.

You should post a picture.

Peach trees fruit on one year old wood (wood growing this year will have fruit next year). You could chop that tree back to where you have new growth coming in. I've chopped peaches down to small stumps and they just send out new shoots. I wouldn't fuss over a peach tree. They are short lived and very fast growing. Try to prune it so its open in the middle.

You could have winter kill, borers, bacterial issues, and/or other issues.

actually, I looked this morning and the new growth is below the graft, so it is useless growth :( Now I'm going to try and figure out how to get it to grow above. I think I'll chop it and see what happens?? I guess I'll spray it too since nobody seems to know what I should do with it. I might as well.

No need to spray it. It's very unlikely you have any foliage pest that would match the symptoms you describe.

From the rainfall you mention, Desifern is probably correct. Simply too much water. Peach trees are very sensitive to drowning. I've lost lots of peach trees from soggy roots.

Sometimes a peach tree will die of drowning in a spot, but another spot just 20' away may have just enough drainage to allow a peach tree to live.

Since I've started planting my peach trees in mounds, I've yet to loose one from drowning.

My guess is the tree got enough water stress, it's trying to reject the graft. Strip off all the growth below the graft, and watch to see if any new growth appears above the graft. If it does, do as Frank suggests and prune to allow the new growth to take off.

I wouldn't go to great measures trying to quarantine any root pathogens from this tree. Phytophthora is pretty much ubiquitous in wet soils anyway. Whether it's phytophthora or wet feet, planting your next peach in a mound will solve both types of root problems.

I wouldn't waste your time spraying... I'd cut it back or replace it.

What variety of peach is it? Are you sure it wasn't hit by peach leaf curl? I had one peach that I sprayed with copper that still lost almost EVERY leaf on the tree, although it still held a few fruits... its now leafing back out.

Oh I just didnt' know if maybe I should spray it for a fungus, not for bugs... but for fungus.

OK... I will get rid of the growth below the graft and chop the branches off and see if it will try and grow above the graft. its worth trying anyways. and if it doesnt grow then, then its done for I suppose :(

It is a Redhaven.

Oh wait, don't prune it until it seems like it will do new growth and if it does do new growth, THEN prune? OK... off to strip the stuff below the graft. hopefully someone will chime back in today about the pruning above stuff and I will do whatever you think sounds right :) thanks so much guys!

"Oh wait, don't prune it until it seems like it will do new growth and if it does do new growth, THEN prune?"

No. Strip off all growth below the graft immediately. Growth below the graft will continue to encourage rejection of the graft.

It may be the tree has already rejected the graft and the scion portion is dead, but you more assuredly condemn the scion by allowing the rootstock to foliate.

gotcha. thats what I meant but wow, my big runon sentence didn't make sense... I should have proof read LOL what I meant was, don't prune the top now. but only after if it starts to have new growth. I already stripped the stuff below the graft. so nwo it is a waiting game I suppose.

the little leaf buds are all dried out like. its probably done for. but we shall see!