Yes, you will have the same pests this year that you did last year. It could be plum curculio if it's early that the peaches are dropping. Plum curc is easy to recognize with a bigger scar, and the grub is legless whereas the OFM grub has legs. Triazicide will treat both. Hard to say about the reddish sap on the trunk/branches, but it doesn't sound good. Cankers ooze that kind of sap and can be the death of the tree. Dormant copper sprays are generally recommended for preventing it. Re: On the height of the tree, I'd prune it down to a manageable height. Last year I was fed up with how tall some of my trees were getting, so I pruned them with a chain saw (seriously). I don't have time or inclination to fool with ladders. People will think that I shouldn't have let the trees get to such a state, and they may be right. A commercial peach grower near me prunes his peaches that way when they get out-of-hand, and has good results with it. The trees I pruned this way had good growth rest of the summer and filled back in some. I did notice some winter bark kill on some of the larger limbs that were pruned, but it doesn't look like it's anything that won't heal. Large pruning wounds can open up a peach tree to Lesser peach tree borer, so it would be important to keep your trees sprayed.

You can use your copper for leaf curl, but that's all its good for. It is somewhat effective against bacterial spot, but I doubt that will be an issue for you in NH. Copper has a good degree of safety, so if you are worried about children and pets, it's about the best thing you can use for leaf curl. Probably the only insect in NH you'll have to deal with is plum curculio, and brown rot the only disease. Those are problems for bearing age trees, so I wouldn't worry about them this season. By the way, you mentioned your Saturn is a dwarf. Do you know what rootstock it's on? This post was edited by olpea on Fri, Apr 19, 13 at 16:35

I just got my first fruit tree, combo asian pear, and I am going to put a ceramic owl on my shed, near my pear tree, to keep the doves and other birds away. I have bird attracting trees, and a dozen nests in my yard, so I want to make sure they are eating bugs, and not my fruit. On my yard, we had a peach tree a long time ago, that no one took care of. It was basically invaded by ear wigs, and so we only got to eat a few each year! Ever since my yard has always had ear wigs up till last season. I took out a foot of bark 2-3 inches deep from my willow, cause earwigs were burrowed up in it like crazy.. I just used sevin spray on it from Lowes that hooks up to the hose. I rinsed the tree after to make sure they all fell out, and to keep the spray off my tree. It was a good method. I got them good, but I had to really get up in there to get the nursery of earwigs. Obviously they say you "can" use this Sevin Stuff on vegetables and fruit trees, but I don't think I want to go that route. I did use it on my vegetable garden 2 times last summer when I was spraying my trees, but I did it only on vegetables that you didn't eat the outer layer, like pumpkins and watermelon. Not that any of them needed it. --------------------------------- I am also researching more organic ways to spray a fruit tree. I have used other methods for other types of edible plants, like planting certain types of herbs or plants around things to keep bugs out. Like my pepper plants really kept bugs out of my bed, I swear I didn't have 1 invader in my garden outside my lettuce crops. And I think my catnip and bay leaf plants in my willow tree bed helped out a lot after the sevin sprayings. I also have very little of new bugs, because my "bird" attracting trees, are filled with bug eating birds. Birds are your best friends. It is about containment of the bug populations and getting less of them each season. No way to keep "all" bugs out of yard over night, or for good. I also wanted to note, that I have found simple methods in other parts of yard/house. Like putting ammonium sulfate all over my grass instead of fertilizer, cause I have kitties, and a dozen kids who live in circle in front of my house. I have also used salt to help kill stumps, cause kids love to play on the one in my front yard, so no stump killer. I have also used viniger based cleaning solution for all sorts of things. It keeps away bacteria and organisms, big or small. If you didn't know, you can clean your fruit off with viniger rather than water to get bacteria off. I bet there is a vegetable oil and viniger mix that would work for a spray, that keeps fruit natural and bug resistant. I am looking to find something like that, some house hold item that can used that isn't poison or dangerous to cats, kids or the fruit itself. If I find something I will let you, cause I am also a first timer fruit tree planter/owner. I would suggest, a "scarecrow" by the tree, and maybe some plants or herbs around the tree. Bay leafs have multiple uses. Birds and bees are what I attract to my yard, which can be flowers, trees, etc. A little flower can help out a lot more than you would think.

Hi, I start my first copper spray for plc around Thanksgiving. Most of the leaves are gone by then. (they are dropped). You want to spray the pruned limbs not this years leaves. Mrs. G