Peach Tree Pruning Guide
Peach trees are pruned to control their size for easier maintenance, to ensure strong structure and to produce high quality fruit. Fruit size eventually dwindles on un-pruned trees, and they become more susceptible to disease. Neglected older peach trees are brought back to life and healthy productivity through pruning, fertilization and proper cultural practices. Pruning styles differ but there are general practices to follow. Does this Spark an idea?
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Prune in Dormant Season
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Prune peach trees in their dormant season, which varies according to local climate conditions. In milder climates pruning time is January, and in colder climates they are pruned mid-February to early March. Pruning in early winter reduces the tree's cold hardiness, flower bud survival and resistance to the bacterial canker organism. Avoid pruning when cold weather is predicted. Pruning when buds have developed also weakens the tree's hardiness to late frost. Check the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone map for frost dates.
First Year
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Young trees are pruned heavily for the first three years to create structural support for fruit production. The energy for peach growth comes from light. A V-shaped pruning design allows light to penetrate the center of the tree. For maximum flower bud development, tree limbs must be exposed to sunlight during June and early July. To produce well-colored peaches with high-sugar content, all regions of the tree need to receive 25 percent full sun. A V-shaped tree is created in the first year by selecting three to four limbs evenly distributed around the trunk and removing the rest. Leave small branches on these limbs for early fruiting and sunburn protection.
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Second Year
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Select one or two limbs growing from each of the first-year primary limbs. Prune them back to ½ their length and remove all others. Remove waterspout growth as it appears at the bottom of the trunk. Avoid horizontal limbs because they bend downward with the weight of fruit in summer. The ideal fruiting shoot growing from the primary branches is 12 to 24 inches long, without secondary shoots. The "collar cut" method leaves a raised collar of tissue at the branch rather than cutting it flush to the tree. Collar cuts promote rapid wound healing and reduce disease.
Third Year and Beyond
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Remove all dead, diseased and weak wood in each dormant-season pruning. Remove branches that grow across other branches. Continue to select branches that create a V-shaped structure to allow light in the middle of the tree. Prune excessive growth to maintain a low-growing structure. Thin out the top of the tree, gradually eliminating old branches as new ones become strong. Heavy pruning stimulates the tree and produces a lot of vegetative growth in spring. Do not use synthetic nitrogen fertilizers after heavy pruning.
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References
Resources
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