How to Prune Dwarf Peach Trees

Peach trees have a long history of cultivation -- Confucius mentioned the peach in his writings during the fifth century B.C. The fruit of the dwarf peach is smaller than the fruit that grows on a full-size tree, but the crop yield is almost the same. Dwarf peach trees cannot support much weight and need pruning to stay healthy. Once you have shaped the tree, future pruning will be easy.

Things You'll Need

• Pruning shears

Instructions

1. Cut back a newly planted dwarf peach tree with pruning shears so it is just 30 inches high. Train the tree to have an open center by cutting off all the branches that are growing upward from the top. Top branches do not bear much fruit and they take nitrogen away from the side branches that do produce abundantly.

2. Remove all the branches from the bottom 18 inches of the tree. Dwarf peach trees cannot support the weight of these lower branches. Shape the tree so that only the side branches growing between 18 and 30 inches high will bear fruit.

3. Prune each side branch back to a single bud to improve light penetration and invigorate the remaining shoots. As the shoots grow during the summer, choose three or four evenly spaced branches to be the permanent scaffold limbs.

4. Remove shoots from the scaffold limbs that are not growing outward to reduce the chance of limbs rubbing against each other. Prune the upright shoots at the top of the tree again during the summer to continue training it as an open-center tree.

5. Trim shoots near the end of the branches, as they tend to bear less and lower-quality fruit.

Tips & Warnings

• Dwarf peach trees do not bear fruit until their second year and only bear fruit on their 1-year-old branches.

• When buying a dwarf peach tree, choose a variety designed for your climate. The proper amount of chilling time is necessary for a good crop yield. For instance, peach trees grown in southern climates need shorter chilling times than those grown in northern climates.

• Don't prune the tree too severely, or it will not bear much fruit.

References

• Virginia State University Extension: Tree Fruit in the Home Garden
• Oregon State University Extension: Training and Pruning Your Home Orchard