Peaches: their care and cultivation

Flower & Garden Magazine, August-Sept, 1996 by Brenda Olcott-Reid

THE REWARDS OF A HOME ORCHARD -- OR EVEN A SINGLE PEACH TREE -- are many. Peaches are delicious in pies and preserves, but they are at their finest, perhaps, when plucked from the tree at the moment of luscious perfection and savored out of hand.

Keeping peach trees in peak form takes planning and effort, however; much can go wrong. Selection of disease-resistant, climate-appropriate peach varieties, a topic covered in the first article in this series, is only the first step toward ensuring bountiful harvests. Proper planting, pruning, fertilizing and a program of pest and disease control are other necessary of caring for peaches.

PLANTING PEACH TREES

Choose a sunny, slightly elevated spot for peach trees, where cold air drains away quickly and frost damage is infrequent. Planting on the north side of a house or other building is often ideal; shade cast by the building in winter delays bloom, but the trees receive full sun in summer.

Peaches need soil with high water-holding capacity yet excellent drainage of excess water. They also need high fertility. Generous additions of grassy or organic matter, accomplished by tilling under the section of lawn where the trees are to be planted, will improve all three.

Before planting test the soil pH and phosphorus and potassium levels. Apply nutrients as needed, and lime or sulfur as needed to bring the top 18 inches of soil within a pH range of 6.0 to 7.5. Surface treatments may be required every few years to keep the pH within this range.

Don't allow a lawn to grow right up to the trunks of young peach trees; competition from living grass greatly reduces growth. Some tress can be so weakened by the competition that they fail to survive the winter. If you don't plan to till the ground before planting peaches, kill the grass in a 3-foot circle around each planting site with glyphosate (Roundup) herbicide or a thick mulch.

In most areas, peaches should be planted in early spring, about three or four weeks before the leaf buds start growth. This timing allows roots to become established before the trees' water demands increase. In Zones 8 to l0, where fall-planted trees are not prone to winter damage, autumn is the preferred planting season. One-year-old trees, 4 to 5 feet tall, are the best size for transplanting. Bare-root trees are the most economical and transplant well.

Planting distances for standard peach trees range from 12 feet to 20 feet. The closer spacing is used on shallow or poor soils, or when you plan to prune rigorously; wider spacing is needed for lightly pruned trees on deep, fertile soils. Semidwarf trees can be planted 8 to 12 feet apart and miniature peach trees 5 or 6 apart.

Keeps weeds controlled, and start training the trees to an open-center system with three main scaffold branches (see "Training Peach Trees to an Open-Center System," page 40).

WATERING AND FEEDING

During the first growing season, water new peach trees twice a week if there's been no rain. About six weeks after planting (or, in the case of fall-planted trees, two weeks after the trees begin to leaf out in spring), apply a fertiliser containing about 1.5 ounces actual nitrogen in a wide band one foot from the trunk of each tree. (See "How to Calculate Actual Nitrogen," above.) If soil tests indicate that you need more phosphorus and potassium, use a complete fertilizer.

Take note of the amount and color of summer growth; it will guide you in determining the amount of fertilizer that will be needed next year. Leaves should be medium green and the terminal shoots on each branch should grow 18 to 24 inches.

Apply fertilizer twice during the second year: first when growth begins in spring, and again in early summer. If growth was in the desired range last year, apply about 2 ounces actual nitrogen each time. Use more nitrogen if terminals grew less than 18 inches and leaves were yellowish; apply less if terminals grew more than 24 inches. Continue tree training and mulching to control weeds. Water deeply once a week, applying six to eight gallons per tree.

From the third season on, cut nitrogen applications to 1 ounce actual nitrogen when growth begins and another l ounce in early summer, at least a month before the fruit ripens. Terminal shoots should grow 15 to 18 inches per season. Once trees are bearing, excess nitrogen can cause poor fruit bud set, delayed fruit maturity and softer fruit more prone to rot. Excess nitrogen in fall can interfere with the tree's natural process of hardening for winter.

Bearing peach trees need at least an inch of water per week until fruit ripens. If no rain has fallen for two weeks, apply one gallon of water per square foot of rooting area, which extends several feet beyond the tree's drip line. Don't water more than that while the peaches are gaining size, or they'll lack flavor and be more prone to rot. Cut watering in half after harvest, and in half again as the leaves begin to yellow in fall, to encourage hardening for winter. Dormant trees may need occasional watering if the winter is dry. Soaker hoses or drip irrigation systems are the most efficient way to water.