I've a few stone fruit trees that have just arrived, earlier than expect which has left me unready for them. (I've the planting holes to prep, a fence to paint, and a lot of earth/rubble/sand/chippings to move. I've temporary sort of heeled them in, ready to move in a few days after I've cleared & sorted the area where they're going.
I have a peach (arrived) and nectarine (not yet arrived) that I'd like to train into a fan shape, that will be in front of a picket fence. The idea will be to "screen" off the bottom of my garden, where my kids have a small play area. I'll run decent gauge wire from an archway, to my border fence/wall to provide the horizontal supports to tie the canes/branches into. What I'm not sure of though, is which cuts to make in the spring - my peach has arrived with a lot more side shoots than I thought it would have (i.e. none, like my previous maiden whips). The nectarine and peach will be on the north side of a small picket fence (~3' high?) - at the bottom of my south facing garden. I didn't have a suitable wall to grow them against, as I've plans for my walls - I'm trying the new supposedly leaf curl resistant peach, so it'll be a good test for it.
Here's the original picture:
I'm not sure if it's visible, but I've outlined two potential pruning options , keeping the branches in yellow, and cutting off the leader where the red is - higher and lower options. What I'm not sure about is, if I should cut all the side branches off and then select some buds myself, or use the ones already established as my future rib framework?
Next, along the same lines I have a viccy plum - doubt this will survive as the roots were *bone* dry, but hey ho I'll be onto them if it doesn't last. I didn't particularly want to order form the place I got them, however I had some vouchers so decided to use them on these trees. In this instance, would it be worth taking the side shoots off completely? They're only on 1 side of the main stem. I haven't decided what sort of style I'd like for this, nor where it's going - it's currently sitting on an east facing fence - same as my neighbours (behind the fence where it is in the picture below -- which needs painting!!) so am thinking depending where I position it, the pruning style/shape will change accordingly.
Rootstocks are St. J.A. for the plum, and Mont Clare for the Nectarine and Peach. My soil is fertile, with a good layer of topsoil, before no doubt a load of rubbish beneath the subsoil as we're an end plot and I don't doubt for a second that the builders would have carted all the left over stuff away when they finished our house heh. Based in South Wales - in a particularly wet spot (so will be interesting to see if this avalon pride lives up to its name).
TIA!
I have a peach (arrived) and nectarine (not yet arrived) that I'd like to train into a fan shape, that will be in front of a picket fence. The idea will be to "screen" off the bottom of my garden, where my kids have a small play area. I'll run decent gauge wire from an archway, to my border fence/wall to provide the horizontal supports to tie the canes/branches into. What I'm not sure of though, is which cuts to make in the spring - my peach has arrived with a lot more side shoots than I thought it would have (i.e. none, like my previous maiden whips). The nectarine and peach will be on the north side of a small picket fence (~3' high?) - at the bottom of my south facing garden. I didn't have a suitable wall to grow them against, as I've plans for my walls - I'm trying the new supposedly leaf curl resistant peach, so it'll be a good test for it.
Here's the original picture:
I'm not sure if it's visible, but I've outlined two potential pruning options , keeping the branches in yellow, and cutting off the leader where the red is - higher and lower options. What I'm not sure about is, if I should cut all the side branches off and then select some buds myself, or use the ones already established as my future rib framework?
Next, along the same lines I have a viccy plum - doubt this will survive as the roots were *bone* dry, but hey ho I'll be onto them if it doesn't last. I didn't particularly want to order form the place I got them, however I had some vouchers so decided to use them on these trees. In this instance, would it be worth taking the side shoots off completely? They're only on 1 side of the main stem. I haven't decided what sort of style I'd like for this, nor where it's going - it's currently sitting on an east facing fence - same as my neighbours (behind the fence where it is in the picture below -- which needs painting!!) so am thinking depending where I position it, the pruning style/shape will change accordingly.
Rootstocks are St. J.A. for the plum, and Mont Clare for the Nectarine and Peach. My soil is fertile, with a good layer of topsoil, before no doubt a load of rubbish beneath the subsoil as we're an end plot and I don't doubt for a second that the builders would have carted all the left over stuff away when they finished our house heh. Based in South Wales - in a particularly wet spot (so will be interesting to see if this avalon pride lives up to its name).
TIA!
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