Removing 40 percent of the tree annually stimulates new growth each spring. However, leave one-year-old, 18- to 24-inch red bearing shoots. The main idea in pruning is to remove old, gray-colored, slow-growing shoots, which are non-fruitful. Pruning in Texas should occur at least by February, just prior to bloom in March. Growers with large crops should not prune earlier than necessary. Growers with only a few trees can wait until ‘pink bud’ to prune. The peach tree will bloom soon after pruning when chilling is satisfied and warm weather follows. Late spring frost is the most significant factor in Texas peach production, and the grower does not want to prune too early. Alternate-year pruning results in excessive growth the year following heavy pruning, so annual, moderate pruning is essential for the long-term control of tree vigor and fruiting wood.
If the trees are not pruned annually, the volume of fruiting wood reduces each year, and the fruiting shoots move higher and higher, becoming out of reach. Each winter, a large number of red 18- to 24-inch shoots need to be present as fruiting wood. Peaches bloom and bear fruit on second-year wood therefore, the trees need to make good growth each spring and summer to insure a crop for the next year. However, if peach trees are left unpruned, the result is weak trees, overproduction, increased disease, and most important, short tree life. Peach pruning is a hard, labor-intensive cultural practice that is easy to avoid or compromise. In addition to these factors, the performance of peach trees depends heavily on proper pruning annually. They have become established as commercial crops at Fredericksburg, Tyler, Mexia, Pittsburgh, Weatherford, and Montague, where deep, well-drained soil, proper varieties and chilling, and good orchard management make crops successful. Peaches have been grown in Texas for more than one hundred years. George Ray McEachern, Larry Stein, Nancy Roe, and Specialist Marty Baker Pruning Peach Trees, by George Ray McEachern, Larry Stein, Nancy Roe, and Marty Baker Pruning Peach Treesīy Drs.
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