Pruning Older Peach or Nectarine Trees
When you have established your 3 to 4 main scaffold branches, follow the same principles used after the first growing season.
First, remove low-hanging, broken, and/or diseased limbs. Dead or diseased limbs will often have wrinkled bark.
Next, to maintain the open center, remove any vigorous upright shoots developing on the inside of the tree, leaving the smaller shoots for fruit production.
Next, prune out poor-quality fruiting wood, such as shoots less than pencil-size in diameter or branches that hang downward and are shaded. The desirable wood left for production should be about the diameter of a pencil and from 12 to 18 inches in length. If the length exceeds 24 inches, cut off about one-third of this fruiting branch.
Finally, prune the vigorous upright limbs on the scaffolds by cutting them back to an outside-growing shoot.
The same principles used to develop the tree are used annually to maintain the size and shape of the mature peach tree. Remove low-hanging, broken, and dead limbs first. Next, remove the vigorous upright shoots along the scaffolds. Lower the tree to the desired height by pruning the scaffolds down to an outside-growing shoot at the desired height.
NOTE: Always keep in mind that the objective when pruning a peach or nectarine tree is to open up the tree to allow sunlight penetration and air movement and to improve spray coverage. When the tree is well-grown, pruning consists mainly of moderate thinning and heading cuts back to outward-growing laterals to keep the tree low and spreading. A height of 8 to 9 feet is preferred.
Below is an aerial view of a properly pruned, older peach tree. Notice the 4 main scaffolds (branches).
Thinning Fruit
A peach tree cultivated under favorable conditions will set more fruit than it is capable of successfully carrying to maturity. Branches may break and the fruits typically have poor color and taste. To prevent limb breakage and ensure good fruit quality, excess fruits must be removed or thinned. Hand-thin the tree about four weeks after full bloom, spacing the peaches about 6 inches apart on the limb. When thinning by hand, grasp the stem or branch firmly between the thumb and forefinger and pull the fruit off with a quick motion of the second and third fingers.
These recommendations were made for home gardeners who garden in the South.
If all this sounds like too much, contract your local arborist for further consultation or to do the pruning for you.
