Last week I finally got time to get my peaches thinned. It should have been done sooner, but this is still OK (they are still just a little smaller than a golf ball). Peaches and other fruit should be thinned so that there are 4-6" between fruits. The tree leaves feed the fruit and have just a certain amount of food. If you leave a lot of fruit on the tree, then the fruit will be small when ripe. If you thin the fruit properly, then you will have nice, large fruit. Carefully remove the fruits so that you don't damage the tree branch. Sometimes when I try to remove a fruit, the tip of the branch pops off. That's really not a problem, unless it happens a lot--I figure it just prunes the branch a little. All fruit that you remove, and those on the ground should be put in the trash or green recycle bin, as they could harbor pest or disease problems.
I also took the time to prune back my semi-dwarf apricot trees (planted February 2009) by half of their new spring growth. Apricot trees tend to have super-vigorous growth and can get quite large in size if you don't cut them back 1-3 times in the spring. If you want to let your apricot trees grow to their normal height (up to 10-12' for semi-dwarfs), summer pruning later in the season is best, compared to winter pruning. Winter pruning will make apricot trees more susceptible to Eutypa disease, which causes severe gumming and branch die-back.--Gard'n Judy
Last week I finally got time to get my peaches thinned. It should have been done sooner, but this is still OK (they are still just a little smaller than a golf ball). Peaches and other fruit should be thinned so that there are 4-6" between fruits. The tree leaves feed the fruit and have just a certain amount of food. If you leave a lot of fruit on the tree, then the fruit will be small when ripe. If you thin the fruit properly, then you will have nice, large fruit. Carefully remove the fruits so that you don't damage the tree branch. Sometimes when I try to remove a fruit, the tip of the branch pops off. That's really not a problem, unless it happens a lot--I figure it just prunes the branch a little. All fruit that you remove, and those on the ground should be put in the trash or green recycle bin, as they could harbor pest or disease problems.
I also took the time to prune back my semi-dwarf apricot trees (planted February 2009) by half of their new spring growth. Apricot trees tend to have super-vigorous growth and can get quite large in size if you don't cut them back 1-3 times in the spring. If you want to let your apricot trees grow to their normal height (up to 10-12' for semi-dwarfs), summer pruning later in the season is best, compared to winter pruning. Winter pruning will make apricot trees more susceptible to Eutypa disease, which causes severe gumming and branch die-back.--Gard'n Judy
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