How to properly prune peaches in the spring and why it is so important

The garden peach is a fast-growing crop: it is harvested 3-4 years after planting. Peach is picky about care, so gardeners regularly carry out agrotechnical measures: watering, fertilizing, loosening, spraying. One of the must-have care procedures is peach pruning in spring. The number of ripe fruits and their taste depend on it.

The article will tell you what spring pruning is and what nuances to pay special attention to.

Spring Peach Pruning Goals

In spring, peaches are pruned to increase yields and prevent disease. The procedure improves access to sunlight, facilitates harvesting, and regulates the number of fruits. If not hold pruning, the tree will often hurt, the shoots will grow in a chaotic manner, the taste and marketability of the fruit will decrease.

Spring pruning is carried out during the period of bud swelling. It is at this time that it is easy to determine which shoots are no longer required by the peach. Sometimes the plant is not cut in the spring, but in the fall. In this case, the tree weakens and does not have time to prepare for winter. As a result, the risk of freezing of shoots increases, which negatively affects the future harvest.

Spring pruning can be difficult for novice gardeners. Many summer residents do not know which shoots to remove in the first place, which garden tool is best to use, when to carry out the procedure.

When to prune in spring

Prune the peach on days when the night temperature approaches + 5 ° C. In southern regions, for example in the Kuban, this is the end of March, in central Russia - early April, in the Urals and Siberia - mid or late April. The tree wakes up after winter, pink buds swell. From this point on, there are 2-3 weeks to carry out the procedure. After the peach blooms.

Attention! Dry and sunny days are chosen for the procedure. Rainy, foggy and windy weather is not suitable.

Pruning the plant during the flowering phase is not recommended. If you do this ahead of time, the kidneys will not withstand the low temperatures and will freeze.

Types of trimming

There are three types of pruning: shaping, rejuvenating and regulating.

Formative designed for the formation of the crown of young trees, whose age does not exceed 4 years. Summer residents give the crown the appearance of a bowl. For this in the first year after landing the plant is shortened by 50 cm to activate branching. The next year, 3 strong shoots are left, shortened over 2-3 buds, the rest are cut to the point of growth. A year later, developed skeletal shoots are cut by a third and all the growth is removed. In the fourth year, the procedure is repeated.

Anti-aging pruning is carried out after 7 years from the moment of the first fruiting. The procedure increases the lifespan of the peach tree. In the course of anti-aging pruning, all shoots older than 5 years are removed. The procedure is carried out annually until the tree is 15 years old. An older plant tolerates such activities with difficulty. Rejuvenating pruning stimulates the growth of young shoots and an increase in yield, creates a well-lit crown.

Regulatory pruning aims to regulate shoot growth during fruiting. To do this, remove thick shoots with a large number of fruits and ovaries. A plant of any age is pruned. Remove broken and damaged shoots: they interfere with the formation and growth of new fruiting branches.

How to trim a peach

In addition to choosing a favorable day for pruning, summer residents prepare garden tools and are determined with the choice of a scheme.

Required materials and tools

A garden pruner is used for thin branches, a garden knife for burrs. Thick shoots are removed with a hacksaw. For pruning mature trees, use a ladder and a long-handled pruner to reach the top.

Attention! Disinfect inventory with a solution of "Formiod" (for 5 liters of water, 50 ml of the product) or copper sulfate (5%). These substances kill germs and bacteria - pathogens. The tools are dipped in the solution for a minute, then wiped dry with a clean towel or napkin.

All instruments must be sharp so that the cuts are straight, otherwise the wounds will heal slowly. Dull inventory will harm the plant.

Step-by-step instruction

In order not to cut off too much, before the procedure, it is recommended to study the step-by-step instructions for pruning shoots and advice from experienced gardeners:

1. Prepare a sharp garden tool.
2. Examine the peach tree.
3. First of all, remove diseased shoots: plaque, cracks, spots are visible on them. Such branches are dry and do not bear fruit, they are cut and burned away from the garden area.
4. Remove broken or damaged branches and those that grow into the crown and shade others.
5. Prune branches in the shape of forks and those growing at an acute angle.
6. Remove vertical shoots on skeletal branches - "tops".
7. Remove branches that thicken the crown.

Pruning schemes

For the treatment and rejuvenation of the peach tree, a pruning scheme is used.... To do this, select an old branch, retreat from the growth point by 0.5 cm and make a mark. At a distance of 30 cm upwards from it, a branch is cut, after which the shoot is shortened according to the initial mark. Thanks to the ring-shaped outgrowth, the plant quickly recovers, fruiting occurs on time.

The "kidney" scheme is used to regulate crown density and prevent disease. To begin with, determine how many buds should remain on the branch. They should look not inside the crown, but outward. 5 mm are measured from the uppermost bud and a mark is made, the shoot is cut off at 30 cm from it. After, as in the "ring" scheme, cut the branch at the original mark. It is recommended to delete more than a third of the total number of branches at a time.

To form a healthy and beautiful crown, use the "knotted" scheme. To do this, cut the branch "to the bud", leaving several eyes. Next year, when 2 new shoots appear, the lower one is pinched, and the upper one is cut off to 2 eyes. With this method, the same shoots will always bear fruit.

It is interesting:

What peach care is needed in the fall to prepare for the cold

The best peach varieties for the Moscow region

Care after pruning

The sections after the procedure are treated with natural drying oil or brilliant green: they protect the cut sites from moisture and decay, and serve as the prevention of viral or fungal diseases. If the slices are large, they are covered completely. With a diameter of 3-4 cm, only the edges are processed. Some summer residents use a garden pitch for this.

Conclusion

Spring pruning is important for healthy crop growth and stable fruiting. All old and dry shoots, as well as branches growing inside the crown, are subject to removal. For pruning a peach, the "ring", "knot" or "bud" schemes are used. For young plants, formative pruning is carried out, for adults - regulating, for old - anti-aging. The inventory is pre-disinfected and sharpened, and the cut sites are treated with brilliant green or garden varnish. The timing of the procedure is late March or early April, depending on the growing region.