I have a (peach?) bush, it could be apricot but I doubt it. I inherited
it from the former house owner. Anyway, I live on a acre and this
bush/tree is in an undesirable place. The fruit on this tree comes in
small, and I'm really not sure what it is. I figured if I moved it I
might solve 2 problems. It will be closer to the house, and I may have
the opportunity to split the tree into 2 entities, that way if it's a
pollination problem that's keeping the fruit small, I may get some
decent trees (bushes) out of this maneuver.

The question is, what's the best way (how?) to move /split this bush?
It's a fairly large bush, and when I move it I will cut it back
considerably.

Another question, if this is a bush, can I train it so it's more of a
tree? This plant has been neglected for some time, so I'm trying to give
it some TLC for it to reach it's potential.

PQ

I don't think you are going to like my recommendations, but please
read all before you decide what to do. "I WOULD 'ROUND-UP' IT". I
suspect what you have is a peach tree than came up from a seed. Most
peach trees are grafted and will not come back true-to-the-variety .
In other words, if you plant an Elberta Peach seed you will wind up
with what old timers called and indian peach(a small somewhat
blemished fruit--big seed and very little flesh). If your plant has
multiple trunks, it is because someone disposed of sever seeds at
once.(I know there is a few that comes back true to the variety, like
a California Cling and others).

Raising a good peach tree can be fun and rewarding, both in beauty and
taste, but it takes the same effort to raise a "scrub" tree as it
does a good one. Not only do they bloom a beautiful pink bloom in the
spring, when they bear their colorful fruit, they look much like a
Christmas tree, in June or July, or August, or September. Your see,
you can choose a variety that bears fruit in any of the above months.

The trees comes in dwarf or regular, and cost less than $20 each, some
times less than $15. (Nov thru Feb probably best time to set out in
your area).

The reason Isuggest Round-up the scrub is, if left unsprayed it will
be a breeding ground for harmful insects like the peach tree bore and
others.

I have a small home orchard as a hobby, in it I have 8 peachtrees (6
years old) I harvested an estimated 21 bushels of peaches. Peaches is
the one frout I have no difficulty giving to my friends.

'PLANT A GOOD TREE AND ENJOY IT" RogerX(PS you do not need a
polinator Peaches are self fruitful.)
On Tue, 03 Aug 2004 11:37:03 -0500, MrChaos007
wrote:

Pinball Queen wrote:

MrChaos007 wrote:


TLC is not digging this thing up in July and expecting it to survive
the hardest time of the year. This is a December job not a July one.

If you care, leave along to a low stress time of year.

Pinball Queen wrote:

I have a (peach?) bush, it could be apricot but I doubt it. I
inherited it from the former house owner. Anyway, I live on a acre
and this bush/tree is in an undesirable place. The fruit on this tree
comes in small, and I'm really not sure what it is. I figured if I
moved it I might solve 2 problems. It will be closer to the house,
and I may have the opportunity to split the tree into 2 entities,
that way if it's a pollination problem that's keeping the fruit
small, I may get some decent trees (bushes) out of this maneuver.

The question is, what's the best way (how?) to move /split this bush?
It's a fairly large bush, and when I move it I will cut it back
considerably.

Another question, if this is a bush, can I train it so it's more of a
tree? This plant has been neglected for some time, so I'm trying to
give it some TLC for it to reach it's potential.

PQ

Yes, I agree. I would just like to know the how's. We've covered the
whens. I'm trying to plan the project. I order trees from the Arbor
society. The trees will arrive about that time, and if I can split this
thing into more than one bush, then that will impact what I order and
the space available. If it's just too much trouble, the advice may be I
need to order more fruit trees.

Thanks.

Well I have never seen a peach tree I could split into two. It generally
does not work that way. Generally there is one trunk into the ground. If
you split it you will open it (no bark) to the elements and in great
likelyhood it will rot and kill usually both. Personnaly I would never
try to split a tree in to two parts.

If the tree has a branch very low in the tree you may want to remove one
of the two and make it have one trunk instead of two. But you really
don't want to do that and then move it and bury that part and then you
will likely start rot there. You may want to remove that branch now by
removing any dirt around that spot and cutting off that branch, giving
the tree time to heal. You may even wait till the weather cools some in
late Sept or Oct.

So be careful, fruit trees are rather fragile and even moving one is
very likely to kill it. Also do not fertilize at planting or now. That
will only make it worse.