Peach tree pruning

 This blasted tree is giving me nothing but brown rot peaches and it's
a big mess.  The butterflies are drunk all spring and the birds and
squirrels in love with the fruit, but I need to get radical.

What if I do a REALLY hard prune this winter and give up this coming
years' harvest.  If I just leave scaffolding, but remove the oldest
limbs, cutting it way down, then clean up every inch below the tree
and remove any plants or mulch, then spray the ground with sulfur and
then the tree at pink bud (if there are any) with bordeaux...any
thoughts?

If I don't do something the tree is getting removed.

Victoria

 

I just googled peach trees this morning.  Pruning is not rocket science, and
you can get some helpful instructions off Google to do it.  So long as you
don't cut the big one coming out of the ground, you're okay.

Sounds to me like you are having some other problems.  Correct watering and
fertilization at the proper time are critical.  After that, birds and
insects and fungus/mold have to be attacked individually and specifically.
Check with a local shop.  They usually can steer you pretty straight.

Our peach tree yielded five boxes of baseball size peaches this year.  Best
peaches I ever tasted.  And that was after a year of neglect from renters.

Go figger.

This winter, I'll prune.  I'll fertilize.  I'll water.  And we'll see what
next year brings.  This is our first year of ownership of this property, and
for the first year, it was rented to some really lazy people.

Steve

Steve

 No, peaches will not tolerate harsh pruning.  especially improper pruning.
See pruning

http://www.treedictionary.com/DICT2003/tree_pruning/index.html

Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Consulting Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and  www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.


--
Sincerely,
John A. Keslick, Jr.
Consulting Arborist
http://home.ccil.org/~treeman
and  www.treedictionary.com
Beware of so-called tree experts who do not understand tree biology.
Storms, fires, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions keep reminding us
that we are not the boss.

 dito

 On Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:18:18 -0500, "symplastless"


Please help me understand; what are you saying "ditto" about?  

And let me make sure I was accurate in my explanation;  I am going to
prune out the oldest limbs.  These are limbs which are growing up, not
waterspouts, but an upside down umbrella.  The ends are too tall to
get to at 12 to 15 feet.  I was going to remove those down to a
lateral branch which grew this year.  So, since peaches set fruit on
the prior years' growth, I should be able to get some fruit from those
lateral branches...right?  

Actually, I'm not trying to get fruit next year, but remediate the
tree with a last ditch effort to shape it laterally instead of upward
and out, and to clean it up so I have less a chance for brown rot.

Are you picturing what I'm describing?  If so, is THIS what you said
"ditto" to, or was it the part which said peaches don't take well to
hard pruning?

Victoria