Q&A for How to Prune a Peach Tree

Pruning in the fall is better than not pruning at all! It is best to wait until the tree has lost its leaves and is going dormant.

In my experience, the best time to prune peach trees is in late Winter or early Spring.

Leave the three main branches as your scaffolding branches. Then, take the middle of the tree out. Ideally you would scoop out the center of a tree just like you would scoop ice cream. If your tree has a strong leader (up the middle), you could also give your mature tree more scaffolding branches, up three feet from the bottom three branches. The goal for a second tier of branches is to make it look like a relish/hors d'oeuvres plate that is two tiers in height. Then, cut the leader and all of the center out.

I have used with some success netting on the ground encircling the tree. The type of netting is the black plastic strawberry-plant netting for birds. Check the netting often, and be prepared to cut free any trapped squirrels/chipmunks using care and while wearing gloves.

You can prune up to 40% without damaging the tree. You can mark the branches you want to keep with cloth strips.

Prune the dead branches hard, and prune everything back quite a bit - taking care of any crossing branches as well as opening up the center as much as possible. Do this in late winter.

First off, thin the fruit to one fruit every 10" - 12" apart. Then, support the limbs until the fruit has ripened and been picked. Prune next February (or the best time for your growing zone).

Loppers are what I usually use. Smaller new branches require pruning shears, and sharp ones at that.

In August, when it is 90 degrees or hotter. Trim branches to six feet so you don't have to reach very far to pick your fruit.

You need to thin the peaches out so there is at least 10 - 12" between fruit. Think of it like this: there is x amount of peach growth available in the tree; if you have x divided by 100 they will not be as large or juicy, but if you have x divided 20 they will be 5 times bigger. It can be hard to thin out all those peaches because you want a good crop, but with peaches you really have to choose between quality and quantity.

Remove peaches until there is about 10"-12" of distance between them. This will lighten the load and help the remaining peaches be both larger and juicer.

You have peach tree curl, a fungal infection that is incurable, but controllable. The spores are in the air, so there is no way to permanently eradicate it. The treatment is to spray the tree with a copper solution in late winter twice, once before the buds begin to swell, and again, as soon as the buds begin to swell. If they are already breaking or opening, it's too late. With this treatment and proper timing, you will see a dramatic reduction in the number of affected leaves. Just a few will have some red spots, and you will see little to no curled leaves. Also, it may help to gather up and dispose of all fallen leaves on the ground in winter, so there are less spores in the air.