HELP! Peach Trees Need Makeover

I moved into a home 2 months ago, that had a couple of peach trees in the back. The previous owner neglected the whole backyard, so the trees are in need of some serious work.

Below is a picture of the oldest tree:


As you can see, the tree’s branches are unevenly spaced; leaving an entire side of the tree bare. You can also see how the tree was not topped and extends very high. If possible, I would like to top this tree somewhere in the yellow-shaded region, but I’m not sure if this would be too stressful for the tree. Is it too late to get the “v-shape” structure in this tree? Is there another way to control the height?

I will continue to upload pictures and give updates on this tree, as there are many other factors that are impeding it’s growth (sunburn cracks, heavy clay, mysterious green growth). I have a plan to take care of these problems, and would like to create a discussion online. My hope is that when I finally get some good peaches, I can organize all the information gained here into a separate post to help those in similar situations.

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I can’t offer much help, but it looks like you have a challenge on your hands there. Both look like they are too close to the house and too close to each other. They have no direction to send branches except up or out toward the yard. The smaller tree looks like it has been growing to the right as it went up. I am guessing that is because it is shaded by the house and the bigger tree and is trying to reach toward some sunlight. On the larger tree any branches going toward the patio would get shaded out by the patio cover, any branches going toward the house are going to be limited by growth distance before they hit the house, but will probably also not get enough sun, any branches growing toward the smaller tree are going to cross branches with the smaller tree. The smaller tree would have trouble growing branches toward the house and toward the other tree so can only grow away from the house and toward the fence.

I am just starting out growing fruit trees so I may be totally wrong. Hopefully those with more experience can offer you some advice.

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Thanks, I agree, I also thought the trees were oddly close. My extreme decision would be to remove the older one and focus on the younger.

Right now I am buying a liquid aerator to break up the clay. Hoping this will help the roots seep deeper and easier into the clay. I got some nutrient tests in the mail to see if I need fertilizer (heard it helps trees repair sunburn cracks).

This is the first time I’ve ever had my own backyard, so I am really trying to learn what I can to make it thrive.

I was thinking your best bet would be to remove or try to transplant the larger tree farther out into the yard. That would give the smaller tree the opportunity to grow in three directions, toward the patio, the back yard and the fence. I don’t know what the difficulty or success rate is for transplanting a peach tree that large would be. Dig as wide and as deep as you can to keep as much of the root system as possible and shorten and prune back the tree so the remaining roots have less tree to support while they recover in the new location. Again though I would wait for some responses from the experienced people in the group.

Do all the experts here agree with my amateur evaluation of his situation? Figured someone would jump in here and offer the guy some advice.

Peach trees can be topped at any height, they are like weeds as far as being able to spring back. So I think your plan sounds good. I would also make sure to remove any scaffolds that would cause the two trees to grow into each other. There is no problem having trees that close as long as you prune out the competing parts. Once they fruit you may decide you like one more than the other but I would keep both around until then to see what varieties you have.

Note I don’t see any fruit which makes me a little concerned you may have too much shade there - ? Peaches like 8+ hours and can fruit some with 6+ hours of sun per day.

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I agree about the shade from the house being the main problem. That was no place to plant a peach tree. The smaller tree is being shaded by the larger one.

Taking out the larger tree will give the smaller more sun and a better chance to fruit.

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Thanks for the info guys! I’m glad there’s still some hope for them. As for light, the trees do get good exposure on one side, but I agree, the shade from the house and larger tree creates a poor living environment. I think the trees may have been planted there as an aesthetic idea. As for fruit, it’s not anything i’d eat :joy::nauseated_face:

There are a few more buds, but they’re only on the northwest sides of the trees. Would it be ideal to cut the scaffolds facing the house and only leave the ones facing northwest? I also plan on pruning a lot of the leaves on the smaller tree, as there is a lot of shade caused by them. I’m hoping this, combined with topping, will create better conditions.

Well thats good you have some fruit at least, I didn’t see any in the previous pictures.

Its good to prune out parts not getting enough light. But be sure you know the light path before you start pruning away, the sun’s path is hard to estimate. I made many mistakes until I logged a lot of observations.

Does this mean it’s not too late to top? I’m in a similar situation where the frost pretty much killed all the buds this year, and was thinking about aggressively topping to get a more manageable size tree.

On a peach I would say go ahead, the tree will be ahead compared to doing it in the next dormant season. Just make sure there is a reasonable amount of leaves left and not just a trunk.

Define “reasonable” :smile: Like 50%? Mostly, I was thinking about trimming off the branches that were all buds that didn’t emerge, which happens to be a lot. Assuming I’m also trimming part of the branches with leaves too, how much leaves left would be acceptable?

What about on an apple tree?

You might consider topping it higher up to keep the overall shape narrower to fit that space you’re working with. If you top it lower, the angles of the lower branches are going to make a pretty broad spread.

I took off more than 50% off a peach and a nectarine tree that the previous owner of our house had let run rampant. It didn’t phase them at all. They put out about 12 feet of new growth that year.

With a peach you can cut out 80% or more at this time of the year. Hack away!

I was think of cutting in the upper yellow area (from o.p.), just above the the lower branches. Do you think this is okay, or would it create the wide spread branches you’re talking about?

I think those branches will lower over time and you’ll end up with a wider tree than you are expecting. But that’s just a guess.