Craig,
Think of it this way, the deer damage is a blessing in disguise. Your potted tree is in an awful shape. The most recommended shape of peach tree is an open-centered. The top of your tree should be prune off anyway so you could shape it the correct way.
North Carolina State Extension Services has one of the best peach tree pruning videos. Please check our the video here.
Your tree is young. It will grow back like weeds. Better shape it correctly now when the tree is young. Leaving it for a year or two will make it harder to shape it and it will bring you regret. Ask me how I know.
One of nitrogen fertilizer is Urea. Just follow the label. Don’t over use it,
Excellent advice from mamuang. When I buy peach trees, it is best to cut the center part of the tree out. I try to form the structure of the tree early. They don’t always grow in a perfect open center. (sending picture)
I am not good at pruning but peach grows back quickly. It is hard to tell from the two dimension pic. If it were me, I could cult at about the should-height of your son, right above the long slim branch on the right. Then, would shorten the long slim branch by half.
The intention is to force the tree to produce new shoots at a lower level below the cut. You may need to remove a lower branch heads downward or sits in top of another one, For a young peach tree, it will push new growth quickly by the summer,
I’ve been reading a lot about pruned vs unpruned. And the pros and cons. And after watching several videos and reading blogs, I’m going the unpruned route. Being this is my first tree, I will let nature grow it as she sees fit. I understand it will take longer to bear fruit and I’ll have to use a ladder, but I want to let nature run it’s course. I probably will get some flack, but I’ll let everyone know in a few years my final thoughts
some advice, if you want to not have a mess on your hands, id plant those raspberries in their own bed. if left there they will set up shoots all around your other plants eventually choking them out. you will be constantly trying to control them in there. i speak from experience. cane fruit are best kept separate. i have mine growing out on the lawn so i just mow the shoots that come out of bounds.
Where deer are a problem, we seem to have two choices: (1) high, sturdy fences; (2) high scaffold branches. For my dwarf apples, I’ve been forced to use #1. For standard pears, mulberries, and peaches, I’ve been able to grow the major scaffolds high enough to use #2 (i.e., fences removed after the tree gets big). The scaffold branches may start out at 3-5’ but they slope up to 6-7’ or higher, out of the reach of the deer. Aesthetically, it’s nice to ditch the fences. But then a stepladder may be required for spraying, picking, pruning.
