Iām located in the Midwest, zone 6b-7a. I have several two year old peach trees that arenāt doing well due to deer damage in the first year and a half. Last year we finally installed a deer fence and established scaffolding structures for most of them, but thereās one that is still extremely concerning.
I would love to know how to prune this tree: itās completely top heavy, with most branches on one side.
Should I cut at ā and stake it straight to create a weak scaffold. Or should I cut at ā” and force the trunk to bud out and bet on possible side branches. Or should I cut at ā¢ and use it as a rootstock.
The deer damage isnāt that bad, maybe some kind of medicated paint would be good though.
As for pruning? Why waste all that growth?
Iād tie it up and tie it down!
What I mean is put a good strong stake, like a iron T post and bang that down in until the spade is 4 inches below ground on the side away from the current lean then use multiple times to tie it vertical. Next (actually you need to think about this before the first step) you want to bend one of those branches arching Down to horizontal or below facing South or South West, you need to decide based on the direction, but it looks to me like itās currently leaning South or SW which is good because you have less tying to do.
You can pound some stakes to tie into or tie onto some big rocks, carefully bend it slowly, and ideally wait until spring when everything is nice and bendy to do it.
Then once every is tied in place so thereās a, maybe zig zaggy, vertical trunk and the other branch horizontally growing towards the hot sun, now it might be time for a minor pruning, but first take the top and bend it way to the opposite direction, north or north east, itās a flexible little shoot a steep bend is probably okay, if not a long slow bend is also okay, now if there are any vertical shoots, cut them off unless theyāre off the trunk and then those can be bent into the other directions, East and West.
It takes a little more time, but your tree will thank you for it by growing faster!
It wonāt be perfect now, but this is what youāre aiming for. But donāt stress peaches are not a long living tree that will be there for your great grandchildren, so donāt worry if itās not perfect. But then you can fence around it the south facing branch can go through the split in your wire mesh if your fence is higher than the branch.
PS if you have a preferred variety especially, you could do a bark graft below the lowest deer damage and then if it doesnāt heal up well you can cut of the truck just above that graft in the future.
Thank you for the very detailed response! Happy to know that the tree doesnāt have to go and the training seems like something achievable this season. Iāll also do the bark graft you mentioned just in case!
it doesnāt look like it has been vigorous. A happy peach will have so many shoots you just keep the ones going in the right direction. A two year old peach should have a wheel barrow full of extra wood on it to prune off this spring.
Does it get good sun? Do you fertilize it in early spring and early summer, 12-12-12?
peaches thrive on pruning, Iād remove the big leaner.
You are right. The tree does look smaller even compared to my other one year old peach. Itās because deer kept eating every new shoot it tried to grow for over a year. Itās in a full sun spot and gets organic fertilizers when I fertilize the rest of my garden multiple times a year. It was all because of the damn deer. Iāll give it some extra boost this year and see how it goes.
I would cut at ā1.5ā, keep the right branch only there at the main V. That will make the tree mainly heading up. The branch to the left looks too low and lopsided.
Put a lot of fertilizer on it. Iāve had scrawny peach trees that absolutely took off once I got them well fertilized. I use slow-release fertilizer on such trees, it wonāt overwhelm them with too much at the start.
I wouldnāt bother with a bark graft or painting it, the tree will recover fine as long as you keep the deer away. The wounds are not infected at all which is good.
Thank you Scott! Your trimming advice for this little tree sounds really practical. Iāll try it and hopefully report back in a year. Iāll also make sure to fertilize well early spring and follow up with more feedings later in the season.
I donāt have a better photo to show but we did put up a 7ā deer fence around our backyard last year. Finally no deer destroying the garden.
