Don't worry 'old timer'. You are right on target about pruning retarding fruit
production. Peach trees generally don't get too large, even as seedlings, but
cutting
down the tops to encourage spreading of branches seems to work well for that
kind
of fruit, certainly not apples. I'm not sure what kind of rootstock you have,
but most
peach trees being sold are only slightly dwarfing. The really stronger
dwarfing peach
rootstocks seem to still be somewhat experimental, and many of them have
problems
such as poor cold tolerance or bad compatibility in the graft union. I'm still
waiting
for them to develop a suitable dwarfing rootstock that will take a peach tree
significantly smaller than a standard seedling.

Sherwin D.

Rogerx wrote:

On Tue, 28 Mar 2006 08:27:51 -0800, "Zootal" nousenetspam at dead ice
dot us wrote:

I have about a dozen "semi-dwarf" fruit trees, each planted 12 feet apart.
Does anyone have experience with such trees? Did I plant them too close
together?

Also, when initially planting them as bare root trees, how severely should
they be pruned? And once they start to bud out, is it too late to prune
them?


Zootal, I wish I knew what kind of fruit tree you are talking about.
I have done some experimenting with dwarf trees. I have 8, seven year
old dwarf peach trees that I set out 6 ft apart and pruned them in
several configurations over the years. I probably average about 7 to
10 bushels of peaches per year total.

The concept behind this is spray and water conservation. I am also
experimenting with growing dwarf apple trees on a wire(like grapes).

On your pruning, it too depends on what you have. If it is a peach,
it should have been headed back at time of setting out. If it is
apple, no, second or third year light pruning to control size and
shape of tree.- -you must know what wood produces fruit. For example,
a peach only produces fruit on wood that is grown last year. So in
February (when I prune) don't cut off all the new wood or you won't
have a fruit crop.

I know this may well be contradicted by some of the more "well read"
individuals. This is only my opinion based on experience, not some
book. I pruned my first peach tree around 1946 as I recall, and have
pruned several since.

Have a good day--The Oldtimer.