You can’t T bud onto that trunk. The bark is too thick and you are unlikely to get a take. Even if the bud did take it probably won’t grow out to form a branch. Even if it did grow it’s not likely to have enough vigor to ever catch up with those other branches. You’re facing pretty much the same thing if you graft in a scion.
Keep the branch you have or train a limb from one of those other branches to fill in the canopy area you need. From your picture one can’t really tell but you probably don’t need another branch to make a full canopy.
Think about how to train a vigorous limb to do what you want.
The real problem with that low limb isn’t it’s placement. That could work. If necessary tie it off to the trunk for support. The real problem with that limb is it’s lack of vigor. It’s hard to increase the vigor of that shoot without cutting off everything else. That would be starting over with your tree structure.
Another wild option if your creative is to side graft a long scion and make your limb exactly where you want it. With a little extra work it can be done. I have added water sprouts up to about 3’. Pears and apples are the only two I have tried this on. I did this for entertainment so I really don’t know how practical the method would be to duplicate.
You can graft a limb on that tree if you are a way better grafter than me. But unless it’s placed high in the tree on a branch that’s been cut back it’s not going to have any vigor. Anything placed or forced to grow in the vicinity of the current branch isn’t going to grow with enough vigor to matter.
When we graft it’s usually on a limb or whole tree that’s been cut back. That removal of current growth is what gives the graft the vigor to take off. Placing a graft low on a tree without cutting anything off is a sure recipe for low vigor or worse a bud/graft that doesn’t push at all.
The current branch is low and lacks vigor. The vigor can’t be improved unless a lot of the rest of the tree is removed.
So this is the peach tree. I feel like the scaffold branches are starting to become too vertical. I removed the little branch in the middle (see first pic). I suppose I can somehow shape the tree so that I don’t need to create another scaffold branch. Do you recommend a way to get the scaffold branches more horizontal? Maybe use rope to tie the branches down closer to the ground?
I put in 4 side grafts last year and they were probably the most vigorous grafts I had. I grafted directly to the trunk in the vicinity of other scaffolds. There is a side grafting thread here with more info. As mentioned in the thread the main issue for me is the angle of the scaffolds that are created. They are naturally narrow so the longevity of them may be questionable. I was able to pull the limbs down to encourage fruiting but it didn’t change the crotch angle. Just an experiment for me.
You can search for information posted by Alan that talks about hinge cuts. He is a big proponent of the hinge cut that will allow you to bend larger diameter scaffolds. I tried it last year on my 4x1 pluot and it worked well. I had to use heavier string than normal to tie them down to large rocks but it worked. Essentially you create a series of small cuts on the underside of the scaffold where you want it to bend. Cut about 1/3 of the way through the branch with a pull saw. I placed my cuts about 3/8" apart and ended up putting in around 5 cuts if I remember correctly. You may need more or less in order to get the limb to bend down.
A couple of years ago I pulled some larger limbs down with hinge cuts. These were on my one and only standard size tree. It accomplished two things. The limbs are fruiting and it brought them to a lower level for easier reaching. Alan provided some excellent guidance on this forum but I don’t remember which post it was. The bending occurred mostly away from the trunk and it did very little for the crotch angle. The most bend happened where the cuts are made. It is easy to make mistakes doing this on your first attempts but once you get the hang of it can be be done without many issues.
You could use ropes to tie down the two scaffolds but that won’t be my approach. You’ve already pruned the tree hard. That will push out plenty of new growth. You can choose as many secondary scaffolds as you want growing as you want from that new growth. There are already horizontal secondaries growing and more will push. Prune back a little more right now if you want lower growth.
There is no need to graft to that tree. Just select the growth you want to save this summer or next spring.
My only concern is that the tree may be weak at the point where the two current scaffolds meet at the trunk. A tree is stronger if the scaffolds originate at points separated by a few inches with wide angles. Your angles are marginal and no separation.
So I put 12 notches in the right branch about 1 inch apart and 10 notches in the left branch about 1 inch apart. Each branch is now ~45-50 degrees from perpendicular. I am a little concerned the deer are going to munch on the branches now since they are outside of the fence. I plan on spraying the tree frequently with fungicide and insecticide because all these new wounds in the tree.
Fruitnut, I am concerned about the scaffolding branches being so close. Unfortunately when I got the peach tree the branches didn’t form in the best places and there were only a few.
You seem like a real go getter. Not one of many we have that are afraid to do anything. That said I would have had a different approach. Wish I would have mentioned it sooner. You probably would have been better off tying those two branches together to get at least one as upright as possible. Then cut one off next winter. You can still get rid of that crotch which is still questionable. Train a shoot that’s arises near the crotch to an upright position this summer. Then next spring cut off everything else and use the upright shoot as your trunk.
Peaches are very forgiving. They can be reclaimed from any situation as long as they’ll push even one shoot where you want it. This won’t set you back that much because you are building a good root system. Growth will be rapid if you rework the tree next spring.
If you can get an upright shoot in a decent position to serve as the eventual trunk then sure one or even both could be left a yr or longer to get you started cropping. Then you can crop the tree while you shape it. Alan talks of allowing peaches to be central leader for several yrs before converting to open vase. You’re coming after it from a different direction because you were dealt a different hand. Both can lead to the same point.
I think you are in a better position than it may appear because you have started early. Once peach wood gets too old it won’t push new buds down low. Then you are left dealing with a taller tree than you want. Your hard pruning this winter will keep good new wood low in the tree until you can get where you want to be.
This is my peach tree almost a year after doing hinge cuts on both scaffold branches. Unfortunately I didn’t get any worthwhile scaffold or leader branches develop last season. Last year this forum recommended that I cut off one of the scaffold branches off due to the V shape. I plan on sawing off the left branch (see first picture facing road). This is because it has no terminal growth since the terminal bud never budded out. I attempted to train two vertical limbs to act as central leaders, but I am doubting their ability to become the main trunk with future scaffold branches originating off them. Any advice how I can prune my peach tree?
