rosemarie face wrote:
I have a couple of semi dwarf peach trees which are 4 years old and
which are in bloom at the moment . Today I noticed a couple of small
dead branches on them which I missed pruning in late winter . Can I
prune them off now or is it too late in the season for this ? I heard
not to prune when trees are in bloom . Also there might be a very light
frost next week (down to 32 degrees ) Will this hurt the blossoms and
if yes what can I do about it ??
Please help !!
Rosie z5 in IN


Prune dead wood off as soon as you notice it. The sooner you do it,
the sooner the tree can grow over the wound.
Don't get hung up on pruning only during the dormant season. When a
tree is young and you want it to get on with growing up to full
size, dormant pruning is the way to go. The tree can then put its
energy into the branches that remain. Prune lightly and just enough
to direct the growth toward the final shape you want for your tree.
(Probably open center for a peach.)
Once the tree is a good size, you can consider summer pruning. By
letting the tree leaf out before you do some of the pruning, you
will get less regrowth. The tree has already wasted its excess
energy on the growth you prune off. This helps control the size of
the tree and often improves the fruit buds that form for next years
crop.
Summer pruning should be done right after the season's growth is
about finished, or before. Don't prune later in the summer because
there is always a little regrowth and late new growth will not
mature enough to be winter hardy. With a semi dwarf tree (or any
tree for that matter), you don't HAVE to summer prune. I'm just
giving this information to let you know you are not breaking some
sacred law if you see something you want to prune after growth
starts. Don't worry about loosing some flowers to pruning. Peaches
set far too many fruits and should be thinned anyway (unless that
late frost thins most of them for you).

Several years ago, I had 4 or 5 young plum trees coming into full
flower for the first time. There was a frosty morning in the
forecast and I was worried. At dusk, I went out with a big kerosene
heater and placed it on the ground between the trees, closer to one
that I especially wanted to get fruit on. The next morning, the
grass was all frosty except for a big circle around the heater. It
seemed to work pretty well. You might consider some heat source for
the pre dawn hours if you really want to protect the blooms. Having
said that, if the flowers are open now, the bees have probably
pollinated most of the flowers. After pollination is done, the
flowers can take a light frost and still produce a fruit.

Steve