Any fruit yet? How is it going with the pear?
Drew51 hi
I have had pears from my tree, If I remember right it was planted 1997. My Red Heaven peach tree was planted 2014.
Resurrecting an old thread. I planted a PF24c this past spring. Since it is still not much more than a whip, would it be a bad idea to set two bales of straw on end against it over the winter, or would mice get in and chew it all up? I keep planting peach trees thinking it will be the last time I try it, but then break down and try again after they winterkill.
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I’m going to find out if that is a bad idea or not. I made a cage around a each of three young peach trees, filled them with straw, and topped them with plastic. Oh, and I also put those spiral plastic tree protectors on first, and wood chipped in the bases pretty heavily. I really don’t know how much advantage these efforts will afford.
I thought about you and a few of our other cold weather friends this summer when I planted a peach tree almost parallel with the ground. It stalled around for about 5 weeks, then started happily growing. This fall I put a vertical 4" diameter pipe in the ground under the trunk with some peanut butter and jam and bacon to hopefully catch voles, then covered the tree with straw and a tarp. I don’t see how this tree can get big and ultimately produce much and still be able to get this treatment, but I think it might work for a couple years anyhow. It does have a few fruit buds on it, so maybe I’ll get a trial next summer.
North,
I hope I do not sound too harsh. I don’t think a peach tree in ground in zone 4 is not going to work out long term. A tree may may survive for a few years but fruit buds are likely not.
Would you consider growing a peach trees in pot and move it into a shed or a garage for winter protection?
If you want to use bales of straw to protect the tree you have this winter, wrap the trunk with a plastic tree tube first. However, if you have 3-4 ft of snow, a bunny could be able to munch a top part of your tree above the height of the tree tube (happened to me one year).
Reading this thread makes me regret my choice of peach roots for all my trees. My plums, apricots, pluots all are grafted onto peach trees. It sounds like peach trees don’t live for long even when the conditions are good.
Do plum trees live longer than peach? Maybe I’m better off buying a plum tree as my next tree. I wanted to get a Rich May peach tree and then possibly graft few plums to it. Maybe getting a plum tree and grafting to is a better idea…
If we get 3-4’ of snow my whole orchard is in trouble. Hopefully the trees will at least survive. Some friends are out deer hunting there, but I need some rabbit hunters. You can only do so much with hardware cloth, spirals, chicken wire, woven fencing, spray repellent, and so forth. Live traps are difficult to manage when the orchard is a distance away.