If you amended the planting hole backfill so that it was pretty different from the surrounding soil you may have created a situation where water collected around the tree and it was too wet. This can happen in a heavy soil, the amended planting hole acting as a sump under wet conditions. When new plantings consist of bare-rooted stock or others that have lost most of the small, outer roots (balled in burlap or root-pruned at planting time, as when it is found the roots have been deformed by container culture) it is not unusual for the top growth to stall for one season only. New roots will come out of the cut root ends after the top growth starts the first spring after planting but no significant elongation of roots will occur until the first fall after planting. Normal top growth therefore does not resume until the second spring after planting. Roots circle when encountering pot walls, trees and shrubs planted with circling roots do not continue to circle after planting. The old, firm sections that were in a circle when planted will retain that shape but new roots will grow away from the center of the plant. When a failed plant is dug up later and found to have most of the roots in a circle that is because it didn't make much new root growth after planting. The circling created by the container is what produces the dominant impression after the plant is pulled up because there isn't a bunch of new roots coming out from inside the old circling roots. If a plant is severely rootbound, with a fist or knot of roots near the base of the stem it may actually not be possible for very many new roots to break away from this configuration. I have examined more than a few shrubs with a turnip at the bottom of the trunk with only a few correctly oriented roots finding their way out here and there.

Thanks gene_washdc and Carla. We got the original plant 7 or 8 years from a local nursery. I'm sure it said 'Wonderful'. It set one or two fruits the next year and it was a decent size and actually tasted OK. But then this poor plant has been moved many times and never set any fruit any more. Last year she seemed to recover and had more blooms than before but still no fruit. of the 3 children, one bloomed red, one bloomed white and the 3rd one hasn't bloomed. But from the leaves I can tell it is likely a red. The mother and 2 children start with red leaves in the spring, however the white one starts with bright green leaves. I never saw red new growth on it. But eventually all 4 plants turn to green. I don't know whether they will set fruits. Especially the white one. Changsong

Tony: An overall photo of the tree would be helpful, but from what I can see of those leaves, they do not look like the leaves on my peach trees. You still have not told us your location, a fact that can be very useful for people trying to help you. There are several rootstocks commonly used for grafted peach trees, including Halford, Lovell, and Guardian. None of them will grow good peaches. Occasionally, you might find a peach tree grafted to seedling, which might grow acceptable peaches. The place to find out which rootstock you have is the place you bought the tree. For Frank: Don't let that Reliance get any larger than 10 feet tall. Prune that baby down, concentrating on removal of growth in the tree's center, and spread the branches. You can do it now, right now, especially if it has a few nice peaches that are shaded by the growth. If Contender survives in North Dakota, it will find SE Wisconsin to be almost tropical. I have to say these are the first peaches I have seen, with the tree in its 3rd leaf, and I can't give you an opinion on their flavor. But they sure look good, and at the rate they are growing will be the largest peaches I have ever grown. Looks like an average of about 3/4 lb. each. I expect to have some go to a full pound each. Big peaches are heavy. For Troman: Don't let your peach trees put on too much upward growth. It will make it more difficult to thin, spray and pick them when they set fruit, which might be next season. It's not rocket science. Just take your pruners and go to work. I prune my trees at any time of the year they need it, and always prune off a lot of new growth on top just after thinning (early June) to allow maximum sun penetration on the fruit. Peach trees grow more fruiting wood than they need, which leads to the need for much more thinning work the following season. And spread those branches, by hook or by crook. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

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