Pruning peach tree in summer?
 

My peach tree gave me 5 bushels of fruit, not counting the fruit which fell on
the ground and was eaten by squirrels. They were fabulous. My problem is that,
there are a few large scaffold arms which have invaded the patio where I put my
greenhouse during the winter. I have to remove a rather large limb. Should I
do it now, or wait till cold weather? Keep in mind, cold weather may never
come, only less light. The ground never freezes here, but..well, I was just
wondering how it would affect the tree if I prune off a large limb now.

V





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escapee wrote:

My peach tree gave me 5 bushels of fruit, not counting the fruit which fell on
the ground and was eaten by squirrels. They were fabulous. My problem is that,
there are a few large scaffold arms which have invaded the patio where I put my
greenhouse during the winter. I have to remove a rather large limb. Should I
do it now, or wait till cold weather? Keep in mind, cold weather may never
come, only less light. The ground never freezes here, but..well, I was just
wondering how it would affect the tree if I prune off a large limb now.

Wait until the tree drops its leaves before pruning. While I
haven't seen snow in over 10 years and the ground here NEVER
freezes, we do get night frosts in the winter. Serious pruning now
can cause new growth that could be damaged by frost. At the
minumum, the new growth would occur just as the tree is getting
ready to go dormant. It's the lack of winter dormancy (caused by
freezing temperatures) that shortens the life of a peach tree in my
climate.

When you do prune, use white glue to seal large cuts (not pruning
paint).

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

prune now if you dont want to stimulate new growth. Ingrid

escapee wrote:

My peach tree gave me 5 bushels of fruit, not counting the fruit which fell on
the ground and was eaten by squirrels. They were fabulous. My problem is that,
there are a few large scaffold arms which have invaded the patio where I put my
greenhouse during the winter. I have to remove a rather large limb. Should I
do it now, or wait till cold weather? Keep in mind, cold weather may never
come, only less light. The ground never freezes here, but..well, I was just
wondering how it would affect the tree if I prune off a large limb now.

V





Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
http://www.animaux.net/stern/present.html



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Meaning, since I live in a summer climate where things go dormant? Is that your
reasoning? It was mine too. I really only have to remove one rather large limb
or I can't put up the greenhouse and that is not an option.

V


On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 21:36:32 GMT, opined:

prune now if you dont want to stimulate new growth. Ingrid

escapee wrote:

My peach tree gave me 5 bushels of fruit, not counting the fruit which fell on
the ground and was eaten by squirrels. They were fabulous. My problem is that,
there are a few large scaffold arms which have invaded the patio where I put my
greenhouse during the winter. I have to remove a rather large limb. Should I
do it now, or wait till cold weather? Keep in mind, cold weather may never
come, only less light. The ground never freezes here, but..well, I was just
wondering how it would affect the tree if I prune off a large limb now.

V





Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
http://www.animaux.net/stern/present.html



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.






Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
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well. in the north summer is not when things are dormant, but when cutting a limb
doesnt stimulate new growth. So all the pruning to get rid of unwanted wood is done
in August while renewal pruning to stimulate new fruiting growth is done in March or
end of winter ... and this is during dormancy right before growth begins.
Ingrid

escapee wrote:

Meaning, since I live in a summer climate where things go dormant? Is that your
reasoning? It was mine too. I really only have to remove one rather large limb
or I can't put up the greenhouse and that is not an option.

V


On Mon, 16 Aug 2004 21:36:32 GMT, opined:

prune now if you dont want to stimulate new growth. Ingrid

escapee wrote:

My peach tree gave me 5 bushels of fruit, not counting the fruit which fell on
the ground and was eaten by squirrels. They were fabulous. My problem is that,
there are a few large scaffold arms which have invaded the patio where I put my
greenhouse during the winter. I have to remove a rather large limb. Should I
do it now, or wait till cold weather? Keep in mind, cold weather may never
come, only less light. The ground never freezes here, but..well, I was just
wondering how it would affect the tree if I prune off a large limb now.

V





Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
http://www.animaux.net/stern/present.html



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.






Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
http://www.animaux.net/stern/present.html



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Prune now, pay attention to pruning just outside the branch collar.
Monitor the pruned area and don't let any suckers develop -rub them
off with your thumb.
If you are removing a large limb reduce the weight on the limb before
making your final cuts so as not to tear the bark.

Thanks guys. I am going to prune it out this weekend. Our first frost is not
expected for another three months, or more, so I am safe if new growth develops.
Here, most trees and turf go dormant at this time of year. It's not a true
dormancy, but nothing grows till the rains return next month.

I'm on my way out into the heat!

V

On 17 Aug 2004 09:32:07 -0700, (Beecrofter) opined:

Prune now, pay attention to pruning just outside the branch collar.
Monitor the pruned area and don't let any suckers develop -rub them
off with your thumb.
If you are removing a large limb reduce the weight on the limb before
making your final cuts so as not to tear the bark.






Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
http://www.animaux.net/stern/present.html