You've seen the results of many poorly implemented central leader peach trees? Hmmm, you would'nt be exagerating to make a point, would you Jerry? My whole business is growing bearing age fruit trees in my nursery, installing and managing other peoples orchards (often already growing when I'm hired) and I don't believe I've ever come across a peach tree trained this way that I didn't build. Maybe people are more experimental in your region. There's nothing complicated about training any tree to a central leader as long as you don't let the upper tiers outgrow the lower. I admit most homegrowers probably won't manage to do this but fruit trees are generaly mismanaged by the casual grower however they train them. At any rate, if a beginner follows my advice and eliminates all potential scaffold branches more than about a third the diameter of the trunk at the point the branch is connected to the trunk they will avoid the most common mistake of inexperienced pruners. Scaffolds with excessive vigor tend to break. I've seen many commercial peach orchards with lots of broken scaffolds even though the peaches were thinned. How often have you seen a beginner manage to adequately thin a peach tree? Even a properly thinned peach tree often will have branches straining under the weight of its fruit. And now I'd like Geraldo to explain more clearly his V trellis. I've seen photos of commercial orchards trained to a V but Geraldo's description was a bit confusing to me, sounded like he was pulling the branches across each other.

Lisa, you can trim them back to 12" now, depending on how low you want to start the branching, or you can wait until they grow another 12" and cut them back by 6". I don't know if you cut them back at planting time...the idea is where ever you cut them back, the branch will divide into two branches, then when you cut them back the next time, those two branches will now become four branches, etc. I'd say if you want a really tight screen very close to the base, cut them back to 12" now. Typically, they will require three trimmings throughout the growing season, so the "three times" is an average, it really depends on growth rate for you. After three years, the hedge will maintain it's shape, but it will still require regular pruning three times annually to maintain the shape and height you desire. It is not a low maintenance hedge from that standpoint. Kitty, mine are deciduous - at least in my zone, they lose all the leaves over the winter months, so it is not year round privacy. As far as pets getting through the base of the shrub, I have chihuahuas and boston terriers, they can walk through the base right now if they wanted to, but I suspect they won't in future years due to dense branching. We also staggered ours at planting time, and they're planted maybe 16-18" apart from eachother, in staggered rows. I'm sure wrought iron edgers would work well, but I'd start branching them at the 12" mark to ensure you have a full hedge top to bottom. As the shrubs mature, edgers might not be needed. I can't comment on the fullness at maturity as I'm only going on the third year with my privets. As far as trimming, I HOPE mine top 10 feet (nothing against my neighbors) for privacy next to our patio (we live on small lots). I've read differing heights for this shrub. If they do grow that tall for me, I suppose we'd use a ladder. Otherwise, maybe 8 feet or less is a better height for you, still a nice height for privacy, and just a few steps up a ladder. And yes! I did see Alice in Wonderland and I was drooling over those wonderful hedges...I am in love with formal English gardens and tall hedges alike. I can't wait for my privets to take off this year.

John: My About Face also has a tall cane like yours. As soon as it finishes blooming (probably by Friday) I will be pruning back so it is in line with the rest of the bush. This way the plant will look more attractive and can start sending out another shoot to produce flowers. Jeff

>>> With respect to the roots, I just want to be sure I understand that the final roots (after pruning) should fan outward as best as possible in the soil Yes. Though I'm a little confused as to what exactly you're doing. Did you already move it into a smaller container with 5-1-1 and now are going to root-prune and put back into the same container? Normally I'd say just put a strong wick into the container (protecting from excessive rain in winter) and leave it be until Fall and not root prune until you place it into the ground. The point of the "root-prune" (term used loosely) being to snip the ends in order to remove the dead/brown soggy roots and stimulate fresh growth at the cut points. I'd be hesitant to do any root pruning right now, but as I said I'm a little confused as to the purpose, so I'll trust you have good reason to do so.