Yes, I would cut off branch B and leave A as the modified central leader. Like a hair cut it will grow back. I would leave one bud, and not cut it completely off. Always leave the collar when removing all of branch, so it can heal correctly. I think you should leave one bud node, and not to the collar, as a branch might grow in a better direction from that bud. You can always cut it off again. In general, you should trim all last year's growth by 1/3. Even up to 50% if you want a small tree. yes, you are cutting off fruiting wood, but we want to establish the tree first, the structure, and the roots, worry about fruit later. In the long run the tree will produce better doing this. You want 3 or 4 main scaffold branches. nice if not exactly across from one another but spindling up. Trim these lateral scaffold branches to create secondary branches on them that will be where the fruit will be produced once larger. If you are looking from above the plant you want your scaffold branches to be say at 12 O'clock, 3 O'clock, 6 O'clock, and 9 O'clock. (this is ideal, hardly ever happens that well!). Hopefully these will be spiraling up the central leader, and not directly across, but that is OK. If a branch on the central leader is directly above another branch the top branch will shade the bottom. Remove the top one. The top grows more aggressively, once lower wood is gone, it's gone! So I always leave the lower branch. Always try to prune just above an outward facing bud, and on a slant (top of slant closest to bud), leave a little stem above the bud, 1/4 inch or so. Not directly above the bud. You did well removing crossing branches and ones going inward, but I would trim all branches on a young tree about 1/3 of last year's growth should be removed. I myself want small trees so I remove 50%, sometimes more, and almost all of it once it reaches the height I want. I'm growing mine with an open center. Like a bowl. Also remove secondary branches on the scaffold branches that are growing straight up, or straight down. You want them growing parallel to the ground, or close! Hopefully others will respond too, I'm not like super experienced, but I think what I'm saying is correct.

Hi Deeby, I have one too.It's an Empress and have had it for about a year. I prune mine to have an open center,so any inward growing branches are cut out. I'm uncertain how long they'll live.Quite a few years,hopefully. I keep mine in a carport in the Fall and Winter,until the leaves start coming out.That way,it helps to avoid Peach Leaf Curl,that happens when the temperature and moisture are at a combined level.If that's not available,spraying with the proper fungicide in the Fall and early Spring will usually help. It will probably be best to leave only a small amount of fruit if the tree is young,so that the roots and branches can develop. Brady

I just ordered a four pound bag of Kocide 3000. I do remember about three years ago, Glenn from RI suggested I use it. Why didn't I? Olpea you're on! Lets see how this will work. I found it on the internet from a farm supply company. As I write tonight, we have the tail end of a southern front coming through. It is pouring as it did yesterday, all day today and tomorrow. This is supposed to slow on sunday and start again on Monday. By tuesday it will definitely be time to spray again. The only trees enjoying this rain are my key lime and meyer lemons. Scott I too have used Fungonil and it has never done a thing to a leaf or fruit. No burn whatsoever. Guess I was lucky. It just kills me to see my trees in stress mode. I hope my Shui Mi Tao is all right through this miserable weather. The Shui Mi Tao and the 'Early Crawford' are the only two peach trees that still have some leaves because they were planted this spring and have been growing vigorously. Horrible feeling. . . when there is nothing you can do but wait. Mrs. G Thanks for listening!

cough: 1. If you have already planted 8 peach trees, and are still looking for more, I invite you to consider the following sincerely offered suggestions: a) Make sure you know what is involved in growing 1-3 peach trees before you plant a lot more. Growing peaches is difficult even for experienced backyard growers. Peaches can have a lot of insect and disease problems, and usually do. Do not believe anyone who tells you they are easy to grow "organically". b) Before planting a lot of any one thing, have a plan for the use of the fruit in the event you actually get some production. 2. I have a pretty good-size backyard orchard here, and currently have 5 peach trees. I could actually get by with three good varieties, one early, one late-midseason, and one good peento (flat) type. This year, 3 of the trees produced heavily, a mature Golden Jubilee, a young Contender, and a young (white) Sugar Giant. The Contender ripened extremely early -- July 7, and, since early peaches are not much good for freezing, we had to hustle to eat or give away the more than 50 peaches this tree produced. They are all ripe within a period of a week. The average person, weighing less than 300 lbs., can eat a maximum of 2 large peaches per day. Next to ripen was Sugar Giant, a sweet peach without a lot of flavor. It suffered badly from bacterial spot, and at least half the peaches were thrown out. This peach, a modern variety from the Zaiger program in California, was a mistake to plant here. 3. Because of the 4-day Easter freeze, the Flat Wonderful peento type had only a dozen peaches, but they were truly fine eating, and early to ripen. They have a firm flesh, but wonderful flavor. Because of their odd shape, peento peaches are difficult to cut up and prepare for freezing. The little pit resides right in the middle of the doughnut, and the peach does not split apart like a large freestone. If this tree produces a full crop next season, we will again be shoveling them in shortly after Contender is gone. I would be cautious about planting any of the white peento varieties, which are likely to be far more sensitive to brown rot and other maladies. 4. Golden Jubilee is a late-midseason peach, and this mature (12 year) tree was an abundant producer this year, with about 125 peaches, of which at least 3 dozen weighed one pound or more. My spouse froze 16 quarts of these peaches, which are firm, easy to prepare, and fine for freezing. But we still have a dozen of these peaches in the refrigerator. They ripened the last few days of August and early September. 5. The bottom line here is: I really don't know what we would do with any more peaches. Once you have figured out how to grow them, and protect them against all their enemies, they can be very abundant. After two early sprays with Imidan against plum curculio, and careful thinning, all my peaches were bagged in try-on "footies", which protected them against insects (mainly oriental fruit moth) for the balance of the season. And very effectively - without any further spraying. Footie installation is, however, tedious, and calls for some acquired skill. 6. If you are going to grow peaches, you should become familiar as soon as possible with diseases such as bacterial spot (on the fruit), bacterial canker (on the limbs), and insects like the plum curculio (early) and oriental fruit moth (all season long). After that, you can get some advice here on how to deal with those problems. You should select the varieties to plant very carefully, based on such factors as their ripening times, and resistance to diseases like bacterial spot. Planting what Home Depot happens to have on hand is not the best way to choose your peach varieties. 7. Without considerable effort to learn the essentials of peach growing, you can plant 100 trees and still not get any decent, usable peaches. On the other hand, two or three carefully chosen peach varieties, with the right care, can produce enough peaches to make your family tired of eating peaches, and the neighbors too. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA