Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Growing in Greenhouses & Polytunnels => Topic started by: adri123 on March 25, 2016, 17:51

Title: Peach tree pruning?
Post by: adri123 on March 25, 2016, 17:51

I've got two peach trees in the PT. I'm struggling to understand how you prune them to maximise production. On reading it seems that they only fruit on 'last years growth'. This is the problem. How do you get the most 'last years growth'?

Thanks in advance for any advice\suggestions

Adri

Title: Re: Peach tree pruning?
Post by: Trikidiki on March 25, 2016, 19:26

I am guessing you want some sort of fan shape as a bush is likely to take a lot of space.

I have a couple of peach bushes in my greenhouses that I am starting to retrain as a sort of espalier called Arcure. They both handily produced a bud just above the graft, I have trained this at about 30 degrees then in the winter pruned it back to 2/3 its length. About 6" along the shoot I have chosen another bud which is pointing back to the left this will be trained back to the left at 30 degrees to horizontal. Any other side buds are shortened, these will be the fruiting spurs that should bear the fruit the following year. After fruiting any extra growth on the spurs is trimmed back to two buds ready to fruit the next year. Meanwhile the branch going back to the left is trimmed to 2/3 then a bud is chosen about 6" left of the centre line and its subsequent shoot trained back to the right at 30 degrees and so on. Each 30 degree branch will be trimmed back by 2/3 of its new growth each year until it reaches the required width, they are also arched slightly which encourages fruit production. Once I get a couple of tiers I will remove the bush just above the lowest tier but I thought I would keep them in production until the Arcure takes off. Ideally this would be produced from a maiden but I had two good rooted bushes and wanted to make use of them.

If you want to make a proper fan then you let the diagonal shoots divide into two then into to again the next year, you can find lots of pictures on Google of Fan Trained Peach Trees. As you develop the base framework you allow the fruiting spurs to grow as described above.

If you want to have a bush you are doing the same but in three dimensions, ideally you try to keep the centre open so you end up with a goblet shape.

Title: Re: Peach tree pruning?
Post by: adri123 on March 26, 2016, 21:15

Thx Triki.

I'm going for a goblet shape as that's the way they came and it seems the obvious thing to do from now on.  I have now found a couple of youtube vids that have given quite a bit of information so hopefully it'll turn out OK.

All the best

Adri