My Peach Tree

I went to thin the peaches off of this tree (a genetically miniaturized peach tree) and realized that it has grown too tall and wide. Last winter I cut off about 1/3 of the larger branches, but it is still too big. I did cut off one more large branch (it would have snapped under the weight of the peaches) and a few small ones. As I was pruning, I wanted to cut off more, but if I cut off to much, then the tree would go into shock--it would focus on making leaves instead of producing fruit. This is what happens to landscape trees you see all over town that have been butchered--the tree starts sending out shoots all along the trunk, to make leaves for food. These shoots would make branches, but they are superficial and not really anchored to the trunk, making them more likely to snap off later. Anyway, looking closer, the peach tree has a lot of die-back, where many of the smaller branch-tips have died. This indicates to me that the tree is not happy (healthy). It is about 20 years old, so it's lifespan has been reached. I did thin the peaches, I will harvest the peaches when they are ripe, and then prune the tree to a nicer-looking shape. Next winter I will take the tree out; and then replant the space with a new peach next spring.

One year, when we moved to a house on two acres, there was an orchard of mature mixed fruit trees. We were told that the previous few years the trees had been neglected (=not watered or pruned), so I set about watering, pruning and fertilizing. There were two sour cherry trees that produced wonderful jam- and pie-cherries. The second year one of the cherry trees produced 72 pounds of fruit, a huge amount for one tree, and then the tree died (it had been neglected too long and couldn't recover). It had put forth it's last effort. I think this is what my little peach tree is doing, as the number of peaches I had to thin was incredible. The almond-sized peaches were clustered like grapes, something I had not seen before. So, all indications are that the tree has nearly finished what it was put there to do. Life goes on.