How To Prune Peach Trees For More Harvest

Ways to Prune a Peach Tree

There are a plethora of ways of pruning a peach tree, that can be applied applied in pruning other plants too. Some of the common approaches are discussed in this section. 

1. Prune Early

You can start pruning your peach trees even when they are young. This will set the growth of the peach trees in the right direction. The ideal time to prune your peach tree is in the late winter or early spring, typically between February and March. This is the time when new regrowth of branches and leaves reemerges.

Pruning your trees from a young age will help you to shape your peach tree, probably in a vase shape, and maintain their health and productivity.

• Pruning your peach tree in the winter deteriorates the plant's health because of the frost and can even cause its death. 

2. Gather Right Tools For Pruning

It sounds simple but gathering the right tools is an essential part of pruning. Before starting pruning your peach tree, you need to have an idea of what and how these tools work. Please avoid using chainsaws for pruning as they are mostly used to remove the whole tree. Some of the essential tools for pruning are;

1. Pruning shears: For small, thin branches and twigs
2. Lopping shears: For medium-sized branches
3. A pruning saw: For the thick and woody branches

Look For Branches

Having a companion to look out for you while pruning is essential. This way they can watch the fall of larger branches that might cause you an injury. Also, having safety equipment like a transparent goggle, gloves, helmet, etc. is a plus.

Besides these, try pruning the branches that are to your reach from the ground without using a ladder, as a ladder might have an issue of slipping.

• You need to make sure that your tools are clean and free of rust to prevent the spreading of diseases. They should also be sharp enough to make a clean cut.  When cutting branches, you need to cut them at a 45-degree angle or in a V shape.

3. Remove Dead, Damaged, and Diseased Branches

Removing dead, damaged, and diseased branches is another vital step in pruning as they host different pests and can spread several diseases to your peach. 

You can easily identify dead branches by observation as they are brittle and can be easily snapped or broken. Likewise, diseased branches can be identified by unusual coloration of branches and leaves. Sometimes, the branches might be damaged due to the unbearable weight of the fruits grown. 

• You can also remove the branches and twigs that cross over and rub with each other. These can come in the way of their growth.
• You can use a pruning shearer or lopper to cut such branches. Make sure that you cut such branches near the bud where the branch is healthy. 

4. Remove Unproductive Growth

You will often encounter branches that do not bear any fruits. These unproductive branches of your peach plant often use vital nutrients that the plant uptake and waste its energy. Therefore these branches should be removed immediately to make the peach plant more productive.

There are three unproductive growths of a plant. These are suckers, water sprouts, and whorls. 

Sucker:

Suckers are the thin shoots and branches that grow from the bottom of your peach plant. They often grow when the plant wants to have more branches. They must be pruned to prevent them from growing from below the tree canopy.

Water Sprouts:

Water spouts are the upright shoots that grow from the dormant buds of the tree trunk or branches. These spouts do not produce flowers or bear fruits. So they can be effectively trimmed.

Whorls:

A whorl is formed when a few branches emerge from a single spot of the branch. You should identify the stronger and healthier branch among such whorls and prune the rest as the branch won't be able to support them all.

5. Maintain an Open Center

You need to open up the center of your peach tree in a vase-shaped structure. This will allow the circulation of air and sunlight within the plant, which is essential in maintaining the health of the plant.

An increase in the flow of air and the amount of sunlight that hits the peach plant will encourage it to produce healthier and larger fruits with more sugar content. This also reduces the formation of molds in the fruits and the plants as well as keeps the plant away from pests and several other diseases.

6. Thin Out the Crowded Branchs

You need to thin out the crowded branches even if they can bear flowers because fruits from such branches are often small and of relatively lesser quality. This will increase the pressure of weight on the branch later. In addition, these branches rub each other and come in the way of each other's growth. 

When the branches are crowded, there is less air circulation in the plants, and adequate sunlight cannot penetrate through this. This will negatively influence the health of the plant. So, it better get rid of the weakest branches among them keeping the healthier ones. 

7. Maintain Trees Height

When the peach tree has grown a considerable height, it will be difficult for you to harvest peaches. So, you need to maintain an appropriate height for your plant. This will also encourage the growth of shoots and branches from the lower parts of the plant.

You can cut the top branches of your peach tree to maintain its height and try to keep its height less than ten feet. It will be easier for you to take care of and maintain your plant at such a height.

• A height of 8 to 12 is best for the management and increasing the productivity of a peach tree.

8. Trim the Exterior

You need to keep an eye on not only the height of your peach tree but also its exterior. A dense exterior might not allow adequate sunlight to the interior parts of the tree. In addition, it will also prevent overcrowding on the tree and overproduction of small and low-quality fruits.

You can use a shearer, looper, or pruning saw depending on the thickness of the branches. Make sure to cut the branch near the healthy buds. You can also cut those branches extents beyond the overall shape of the peach tree.

9. Get Rid of All Inward and Downward Growth

Downward-facing branches will not be able to produce good quality fruits as they grow mostly under the shade of the tree. Similarly, inward-facing branches might rub against the other fruit-bearing branches and affect them.

In addition, these branches might not be able to support the weight of fruits on them. Therefore it is ideal to remove such branches. This will ensure that the plant's energy is used on the productive branches and increase fruit harvest. In addition, open and well-spaced tree canopies provide adequate air circulation and sunlight penetration. 

10. Thinning the Buds

A peach tree produces more flowers than it can support. Due to this, each of these flowers will get inadequate nutrients as these nutrients have to be distributed among all the flowers. Consequently, the quality and size of flowers degrades.

Thus, thinning the buds of your peach tree ensures more nutrients are distributed among the few buds. This helps produce better quality peaches in good sizes. This can also reduce the breaking off of the branches because of overcrowding of fruits.

• Remove the damaged, smaller, unhealthier buds, and keep the buds in between 4 and 6 inches as this allows the branch to support fruits' weight.

11. Plan and Encourage New Growth

You need to remove the entire branch if you do not notice any new growth. These branches might not grow after all. This will encourage the plant to focus its energy on the regrowth of new branches.

 Older branches are not that productive. So, you can also prune older branches as this can facilitate the growth of branches that are likely to bear flowers and fruits in the future. Keeping the length of branches less than 24 inches is better to encourage new growth.

Tips For Pruning

If you have come to this, you might have got some insights about pruning a peach tree. Even if you are a beginner and have not pruned any tree yet, do not worry as almost all plants can withstand certain disturbances from humans, including peach trees. The best way of learning pruning is all about going out to your orchards and giving it a try.

Below are some tips that might be helpful for you when you are about to start pruning.

• You can scaffold a young plant to provide it the support it needs. 
• Use clean and sharp tools for pruning and disinfect it after its use. This will prevent the spread of diseases in your peach trees.
• Make sure you do not use the waste of pruning as a compost.
• Make sure you cut the branches at an angle of 45 degrees. This will prevent the accumulation of water at the cut mark. 
• Make a cut near the buds on the branch.

Plant Age For Pruning

There is no perfect age for a plant to start pruning. But, you can start pruning the plant from an early age and can be done during the first year of planting.

Likewise, you can prune annually to increase productivity and improve the health of your peach tree. However, you need to keep in mind the timing and season when pruning.

• Do not prune in the fall as this might make your peach tree susceptible to damages that might be caused by winter. 
• Avoid pruning your peach trees in winter as they might dry because of frost and even cause death.
• Avoid pruning your peach tree on a wet day.

Why to Prune Peach Trees?

Pruning peach trees has several benefits from increasing the harvest to increasing the fruit quality. Some of these benefits are explained in brief in the section below.

Increase in the Fruit Production

Like all trees, peach trees also put more of their effort into producing new branches and leaves. This leaves unpruned trees with less energy for producing flowers and fruits.

Therefore, pruning periodically helps the plant to focus on the production of new flowers and buds by selectively removing some branches. This will consequently increase fruit production.

Preventing the Spread of Diseases

Pruning helps to remove the dead, diseased and damaged parts of the trees.

As pests and other vector agents can be found on such parts of the trees. This will weaken the immune system of the plant and also produce fruits that are of lesser quality. Thus, removing them will eliminate disease-causing agents and keep your peach trees healthy.

Maintain Shape and Size

Pruning keeps checks on the height and the size of your peach trees and makes sure that they are of appropriate height. This allows the harvester to easily pick up fruits and eliminates the need for a ladder and other equipment.

Pruning also maintains the structural integrity of the plant by producing healthier, thicker, and stronger branches and also reduces the risk of branch failure.

Improves Air Circulation and Sunlight Penetration

Pruning allows better circulation of air and more exposure to sunlight in the plants, especially on the leaves and the fruits.

Consequently, this helps to reduce moisture content in the plants, as moisture might cause mold or decaying branches. Thus, better air circulation and adequate sunlight penetration maintain plant health and produce disease-free fruits.

Increase in Fruit Quality

Although an unpruned peach tree contains relatively more fruits than a pruned one, the fruits are smaller and of lesser quality. However, pruned trees often produce bigger and better fruits with good quality. This is because more energy of a peach tree is utilized in transporting nutrients to the upper parts of taller trees than the shorter ones. Additionally,  the plant tends to focus on the stem and branch production rather than on the fruits.

Prevent the Breakage of the Branches

When the weight of the fruits on the branch is greater than the ability of that branch to support it, that branch might break off from such unbearable pressure of weight.

Moreover, an overloaded branch might snap during heavy rain as well. Thus, pruning will help to keep only the healthy buds and fruits that the branch can support and prevent the branches from snapping.