Pruning and Grooming My Peach and Plum Trees
If you grow fruit trees, the best time to prune them is now - in very early spring, or winter, before any new growth begins.
Pruning not only helps to develop proper shape and form, but it also encourages new growth, promotes high fruit yield, and maintains good tree health. At the farm, I have hundreds of fruit trees. In fact, five years ago I planted an entire orchard surrounding my pool - one with a variety of apple trees, plum trees, cherry trees, peach, apricot, pear, medlar, and quince trees. This week, my gardeners and outdoor grounds crew pruned and groomed the peach and plum trees. I can't wait until summer, when they are filled with delicious fruits.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- This is the paddock just before I planted my giant orchard of 220-fruit trees in 2017. We planned exactly where all the trees would be planted using twine.
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- This orchard surrounds three sides of my pool and a purple columnar beech tree hedge. I wanted the trees to be at least 15-feet apart. I am very fortunate to have such an expansive paddock space to grow all these trees.
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- This photo was taken the following summer. Look at how much they grew. A lot of the success of all my trees here at the farm is due to the nutrient-rich soil.
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- And here are some of the peach trees last year. These trees have performed wonderfully and are so prolific – we had so many delicious peaches to enjoy last summer.
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- Some of the peach varieties in this orchard include ‘Garnet Beauty’, ‘Lars Anderson’, ‘Polly’, ‘Red Haven’, and ‘Reliance’. Peach trees thrive in an area where they can soak up the sunshine throughout the day. Peach trees prefer deep sandy well-drained soil that ranges from loam to clay loam.
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- I take excellent care of all my trees and make sure they are pruned and groomed regularly. This week, Pasang and Brian tackled the rows of peaches and plums – one shaping the trees and the other removing the important “Ds” of pruning – dead, diseased, and damaged branches. On peach trees, fruit grows on one-year-old wood, so a mature tree can be pruned rather extensively – around 40 percent of the tree each year.
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- I always prefer hand tools that will give my trees a more natural appearance and shape. Smaller twigs are snipped off with regular secateurs. Each member of my outdoor grounds crew has a pair. It’s also very important to use sterilized pruning shears whenever trimming trees, so any diseases cannot be transferred from one specimen to another.
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- Pasang is an excellent pruner and does a lot of the smaller tree pruning projects at the farm. Here he is shaping the tree and pruning higher branches to help let in light and promote good air circulation.
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- Pasang uses this STIHL Extended Reach Pruner – one of his favorite pruning tools because it allows him to cut branches with the squeeze of a handle. It is lightweight and has a working reach of seven-feet.
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- Here is a closer look at the cutting end of the pruner. It has a hard, chrome-plated blade that cuts branches up to .75 inches in diameter.
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- Another favorite tool is the STIHL lopper. Its aluminum handle measures a full 32-inches and the specially designed cutting head has a cutting capacity of two-inches. Brian likes to use this tool when pruning.
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- These are the flower buds of the peach. A peach flower bud produces a single flower that can set one fruit. There are many, many flower buds on these peach trees.
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- This is a dead branch – notice the dark brown wood. Dead branches, or those without any signs of new growth, are cut, so the energy is directed to the branches with fruiting buds.
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- Branches that are rubbing or crisscrossing are also cut. Basically, the goal is to create a tree with well spaced lateral branches. Any branches which interfere with the tree’s shape or create a dense framework should be removed.
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- Down below – all the cut branches. There is a lot of pruning to do on these trees – they are healthy and have produced a lot of growth in the last year.
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- Here, one can see what has already been cut, and what Brian still has left to trim – he’s almost done.
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- Here are the flower buds of the plum trees. All varieties of plums bloom in late winter to early spring and fruit generally ripens in May through September, depending on the species, cultivar and climate.
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- Many of the trees are staked and supported with arbor ties. Notice the figure-eight formation. I always teach every member of the crew to twist the twine or tie into a figure eight before knotting, so the tree or vine or cane is not crushed or strangled.
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- Plum trees are best pruned in a vase format to get a short trunk with several major branches to come off of the trunk at a 45-degree angle. This allows plenty of light and air into the tree.
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- All the trimmed branches are placed on a tarp for easy and quick clean-up. These branches will be placed in our pile for chipping.
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- These fruit trees are bare now, but in several weeks, they’ll all be leafed out and flowering again. And come mid to late summer, we’ll have bounties of delicious, organic and sweet fruits to enjoy! I can almost taste them now.
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