Should I Prune My Peach Tree Early?

Q: We have been waiting for the right time to prune our peach tree and I know you recommend March for that. However we just noticed that they seem like they will bloom very soon. Should we still wait until March?
A: The tendency of peaches to bloom in January is the reason to wait until March to do your final cuts. Only in March will you be able to assess if any freeze damage has been done to flower buds or to branch tips. In March it will be easy to see the difference between brown, crumbly frozen buds and the slightly pink good buds that will give you peaches this summer. A second reason to wait is that pruning in January will initiate hormone movement in the peach branches which will make the remaining buds less tolerant of upcoming cold weather.
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Walter’s Bookshelf
Browse and purchase gardening books by Walter Reeves, plus select titles by other authors.
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name that plant
Post your puzzlers and help others with theirs.
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January calendar
January is typically the coldest winter month. Still, you can accomplish such garden tasks as sharpening...
Get The Checklist
-
-
Popular topics
Soil Spring Summer Seed Winter Fall Flowers Weed Fertilizer Disease Shade Temperature Pine Pots Oak Mulch Pruning Watering Container Maple Compost Herbicide Birds Moisture Tomatoes Azalea Poison Pears Hydrangea Glyphosate Cherry Caterpillar Pests Roundup Irrigation Pre-Emergent Stone Pesticide Dogwood Peach Pine Straw Spider Greenhouse Magnolia Squash Beans Squirrels Poisonous Travel Lemon
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Trending Posts
-
1
Soldier Fly Grubs – In Compost
-
2
Mushrooms – Growing from Bottom of Pot
-
3
What is a Sercy?
-
4
How to Soil Test
-
5
Lawn – Growing in Shade
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1
Aftercare for poinsettia, amaryllis and paperwhite narcissus plants
-
2
Soldier Fly Grubs – In Compost
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3
Vole – Damage to Plants and Control
-
4
Dracaena surculosa blooming
-
5
How to Prune a Coral Bark Maple
-
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Walter’s Bookshelf
Browse and purchase gardening books by Walter Reeves, plus select titles by other authors.
View books -
-
January calendar
January is typically the coldest winter month. Still, you can accomplish such garden tasks as sharpening...
Get The Checklist
-
-
Popular topics
Soil Spring Summer Seed Winter Fall Flowers Weed Fertilizer Disease Shade Temperature Pine Pots Oak Mulch Pruning Watering Container Maple Compost Herbicide Birds Moisture Tomatoes Azalea Poison Pears Hydrangea Glyphosate Cherry Caterpillar Pests Roundup Irrigation Pre-Emergent Stone Pesticide Dogwood Peach Pine Straw Spider Greenhouse Magnolia Squash Beans Squirrels Poisonous Travel Lemon