Peach for the gardener - a more profitable culture than, say, apricot. He well tolerates winters (with the appropriate shelter), later blooms, and, therefore, fruit buds do not die from spring frosts, is not inclined to the occurrence of the periodicity of the stages of fruiting. But, despite all the advantages of such trees, there is a widespread opinion among dacha residents that they are short-lived. This is due to the ignorance of the schemes and the failure to meet the peach pruning time. When untimely pruning branches are overloaded with shoots, too many small fruits appear on them. As a result, the tree is depleted, becomes more susceptible to diseases, fungi and pests, is damaged even in small frosts and, as a result, becomes unproductive. In order to avoid all the above troubles, you should spend an annual peach pruning in spring and summer. Annual pruning prevents the aging of the peach and stimulates it to form new shoots that will ensure a good harvest.
Formation and pruning of a young peach
In the early years, the obligatory shaping peach pruning is carried out, thanks to which the crown takes shape. To do this, select several basic skeletal branches, the lower one of which should be located at a height of 60-70 cm from the soil, leaving 6-8 semi-skeletal ones on them. There are the following schemes of peach pruning in spring:
- cup-shaped;
- bush-shaped;
- without.
When forming the frame branches, the shoots that form in the area of the stem should be cut before they become stiff. It is also permissible to form an unshtamped formation when the branches emerge directly from the root neck.
How to properly cut a peach in the spring?
There are the following types of spring pruning:
- rejuvenating pruning. The peach tree fructifies well 8-10 years, then the task of the gardener is to prolong his life by means of a shortage and removal of old branches. Skeletal branches are shortened to 3-4-year-old wood and cut off near young shoots, from which a renewed crown will subsequently form;
- Trimming the damaged tree. If the peach has suffered from frost, it should be cut off well, otherwise it may die completely. To do this, shrinkage branches are removed, the damaged ones are partially shortened to the length of 2-3 years old, young shoots are also cut shortly - to a height of 2-3 kidneys;
- spring pruning of a fruit-bearing peach is necessary to provide air and light permeability to all branches of the crown, as well as to stimulate fruiting. Pruning is carried out at the stage of bud formation and the first flower buds. Thinning is carried out - pruning of excess shoots and their shortening. In some cases, shoots, which actively fructified last year, are cleaned altogether. The purpose of these measures is the regulation of fruiting. So, the optimal number of fruits on one adult tree is about 300, but they will have exceptional taste qualities. If the tree is not thinned, up to 1000 peaches can grow on it, but they will be small and unattractive.
Also practiced summer pruning of peach trees, which is recommended as an obligatory hygienic measure in the care of peach trees:
- green pruning in June, when the leaves bloomed and weak and drying shoots visible, which should be removed;
- during the summer, annual increments are cut off, leaving only the strongest outward directed crowns located at a distance of at least 15-20 cm from each other;
- final trimming peach is carried out in August, during fruiting, cutting the skeletal branches on perennial wood.
It is also necessary to carry out spring pruning of other trees, for example, apple and pear .