Peach pruning

[peachguy]

Well I live in zone 6 and was wondering is the ideal time to prune peach tree and it is its first spring in my yard and I know that while it is young it is the best time to prune for the shape. I just don't know when to prune it, but I do know that it should be dormant for its pruning.

[MaineDesigner]

I'm more of an apple and pear grower but I do have some experience with peaches. You want to wait until March or early April, after chances of really cold temps (10F/-12C) have passed but before it starts to break dormancy.
Prune for an open vase shape rather than a central leader.

[peachguy]

thank you for the info. I will do it around that time then.

[opabinia51]

Hi Peach guy, in zone 6 you have an annual minimum temperature of 0 to 10 below in the Celsius scale.

I agree with Maine Designer that you want to produce an open crown shape if the tree is not espaliered against a house. Most people like to espalier their peach tree along the South Side of their house but, it is not absolutely necessary and the trees will do just fine in an open crown shape.

However, I do disagree on one point:

Trees are best pruned while the sap is still more or less solid. Around here we prune the trees (as do the local orchards) in Jan-Feb when the sap is still hard and the trees are dormant. In Zone 6 you will have a longer period that you will be able to prune the tree but, you should do it before the sap starts to run again.

Any other thoughts?

Maine, if you'd like to discuss the matter, that would be great as well.

[peachguy]

So then I should prune it around the begining of march, becaue right now we are still in and around -10 degrees celcius and wouldn't it hurt the tree to prune it in that kind of cold?

[MaineDesigner]

All I can report is established pruning practice in upstate New York and northern New England (Zones 6a through 4a). Although I'm not aware of anyone growing peaches commercially in the area quite a few apple or pear growers have a few peach trees for personal consumption. The established practice for all three fruits here is to primarily prune from mid-March through April (occasionally stretching into early May). The lore among local growers is that earlier (winter) pruning results in greater cold damage. Since I have not seen any published literature that compares different times I'm willing to accept local tradition. The Cornell University fruit program gives the same advice.

[MaineDesigner]

I should add that you can do secondary pruning after petal drop if you are looking at stretch of dry weather.

[opabinia51]

Thanks for the information Mainedesigner.

I'm not saying that you are correct or incorrect, though just because particular institutions practice a given technique does not mean that it a) necessarily works or b) works in every situation. Case in point, for over 90 years now almost all University Biology departments have relied and Darwinism and Neo-Darwinism to describe evolution and over the past 30 years we have been discovering that Darwinism doesn't work. But, I digress.

The point is that:

If you ask one question regarding growing plants and you get ten different answers. I'm surmising that both techniques work under different growing conditions.

I have been told by very experienced gardeners that you can prune anytime of year but, through experience and research I have found my above statements to work quite well in my area.

So, my advice to peach guy is to try different techniques out and see what works best for you.

Maine do you have any links to your research information such that peach guy and I can read it? The more information we have the better!

[Newt]

Here's a good site about pruning peaches from North Carolina.
https://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/hil/ag30.html#pruning

Newt

[peachguy]

Well I think I prune soon but once it warms up just a little it is like -20C out and is suppose to be like that for the next few days. Imay wait till end of Feb. Begining of march.

[opabinia51]

Good luck!

[MaineDesigner]

Opabinia51, in reply to your question most of my information comes from personal communications with regional orchardists, nurserymen, and horticultural consultants. I did, however, quickly Google the subject and came up with the following:
https://www.ipmcenters.org/cropprofiles/docs/NewEnglandpeaches.html
https://www.michiganpeach.org/facts/Peachesculturebackyard.htm
The regional exceptions to March-April pruning I was able to locate actually preferred summer pruning, e.g. UMass. I was unable to find any recommendations for January- February pruning from sources within Zones 4 through 6.

I try to confine my horticultural comments to areas where I have actual experience. In my case that is zones 6a through 4a in the northeastern U.S. (New England west to Minnesota and the eastern part of the Dakotas). Cultural practices that work well in the U.K. or on the West Coast (primarily zones 9b through 7b) often do not translate well into cold winter conditions. Similarly plants or practices that work well for us in zone 5 New England often are not successful in zone 5 Colorado or New Mexico.

As a personal note I feel that I have to add that I was a bit taken aback by your reference to Darwinism. Perhaps I misunderstood you but my reaction was that this was an attempt to interject personal religious views into this forum. I would prefer to avoid the contentious topics of religion and politics and stick narrowly to gardening and landscaping related information. If I did misread you, my apologies.

Peachguy, my own advice continues to be to hold off on pruning until into March or April but as you are discovering when gardeners get together there are often differences of opinion. I hope your pruning efforts will be successful. Perhaps you are enough warmer to have better success but in this region peach trees tend to be very short lived, often dying suddenly for no obvious reason. In the northeastern U.S. (Zones 5 & 6) growing peaches requires a fairly high tolerance for failure. Good luck!