Superior NW Tree and Shrub Care Inc.

In general it is good to do structural pruning of fruit trees during their dormancy.  You can fine tune them after full leaf in the summer. Peach trees, whether planted or volunteer, respond best to winter pruning between mid-February and early March. If they are pruned too early in the winter (Oct-Jan) there is an increased chance of bacterial infection. Summer pruning can be done in early to mid-July.

When looking at your tree you should notice that it is ‘bushy’, that is as you move farther out along each branch there are more and more twigs and extensions until, when you reach the last 10-12″ say, all the growth is tangled, crossing, and intertwined. Peach, plum, apricots, and their like need to have this type of growth to produce well, but it must be maintained. Peaches produce fruit on the wood that grew over the previous season.  If you look carefully on your tree you can see where the color and texture of the wood change along each limb.

A mature, producing peach tree is best suited to‘vase’ architecture. The center should be open, the scaffolding limbs radiating out from the center and rising, the spacing such that each has adequate resource allocation. The overall height can be between eight and ten feet, the spread should be no more than seven to nine feet from center to outer edge.

To create this result the center stem of the tree will have to be headed. This will seem drastic, and depending on the age of the tree being cared for it might be up to a 3” caliper cut, but it must be done.  Pick a place between 30” and 42” above the ground where there are good lateral limbs, ideally they will be attached at angles of forty-five degrees or more, and remove the center stem. The sooner in the tree’s life this heading cut is made the better.

Then limb by limb you work carefully from the inside of the tree out to the ends.  You start by excising branches that are rubbing against each other, leaving the most viable branch and removing the one that is weak, or growing backwards, or crossing into the other limbs.  The idea is to create a framework of limbs that will support the weight of all your delicious peaches, that have adequate room to collect sunlight, that won’t interfere with each other, and that have the space along their length for the ‘brushes’ of fine branches and twigs from last year’s growth that bear the fruit.

Dead, broken, and low hanging branches are also removed.  As you move out further along each limb remove the larger verticals that are crowding the center.  Leave the ones from last year that are about pencil thick and 12-18” long. Any that are less than this diameter, the ‘weak’ ones, are excised also. Try to maintain even spacing and numbers on each limb.  Do not worry about getting everything perfect during the winter prune. You never want to prune too heavily.   Remember that the fine tuning will be done in the summer. Thin the ends lightly, pruning them to outward growing laterals at the desired tree height.

Your peach should bloom thickly and set many more small fruit than it can carry to maturity.  These are carefully thinned by hand about a month after the blossoms drop. Strive to get a crop where the peaches are spaced evenly about six inches apart. Move along each branch and, grasping the main stem in one hand, quickly pinch off the undesired fruit. A peach should never be pruned so hard in the winter that the fruit does not need to be hand thinned.

The July pruning consists of removing any over vigorous shoots that arise in the spring, keeping the tiny new shoots, just ensure that there is adequate sun and air to each of the scaffolding branches.  If a last year center shoot is over 24” tall, but is not crowding, then nip it back to a lateral bud about a third of the way back from its tip. Move out to the branch ends and again lightly prune to outward laterals to keep the overall vase shape.  Use this pruning time to ensure that the branches are not over weighted; they should spring back sharply from a brisk tug.

As the peach matures and the final frame forms, only light pruning should be needed over the remaining life of the tree.  Just keep an eye as to balancing form and function of the tree.  As a final care note, spread a nice organic chip mulch around your tree to a depth of 4-6” out to the drip line. I prefer one that has not been mixed with fertilizers of any sort. The mulch will rebuild the soil and give the tree the essentials it needs for a robust annual crop and great longevity.

Anthony Moran, CTSP of Superior NW Tree and Shrub Care, Inc., a commercial and residential tree care company located in Woodinvillerecently completed the Certified Treecare Safety Professional (CTSP) program offered by the Tree Care Industry Association.  The CTSP program allows one or more key employees at a given company to become certified tree care safety experts, thereby empowering and encouraging a culture of safety within that organization and across the industry as a whole. , WA,

Maintaining a Certified Treecare Safety Professional on staff means that this organization is committed to safe practices in arboricultural operations.  CTSP’s are kept abreast of the latest technological advances and regulatory activities affecting the industry through the TCIA safety network, and must commit to ongoing education in the safety field in order to maintain their certification.  Because safety regulations and industry standards are continually evolving, the ongoing education requirement is vital to maintaining a legitimate safety program within a given company.

There are three paths to CTSP program eligibility: Holding a degree in Arboriculture or a related science with technical experience through an internship; possessing three years technical field experience in tree care with at least one year of assumed responsibility for safety; or six month’s technical field experience with one year in a professional safety role.  In order to fulfill program requirements, CTSP’s must complete a study guide, attend a training workshop, and pass a comprehensive exam.  Staying certified requires CTSP’s to earn a minimum of 30 CEU’s every three years by committing to continuing their growth in the safety field through a variety of means.

The purpose of the CTSP program is to reduce work-related fatalities, injuries and illnesses overall, and completion of the program demonstrates a true commitment to improving the safety and well-being of tree care workers across the industry.  Consumers can rest assured that retaining the services of a tree care company with a CTSP on staff ensures a safe, professional jobsite operated by highly skilled experts in the arboriculture field.

For more information regarding Superior NW Tree and Shrub Care, Inc., visit www.Superiornw.com or call at (877) 775-8733.

For more information regarding the Tree Care Industry Association, visit www.tcia.org.  For more information regarding the Certified Treecare Safety Professional program at TCIA or to obtain digital photos, contact Peter Gerstenberger at (800) 733-2622 x109 or email peter@tcia.org.