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BY KENNER LOVE
Extension Agent, ANR
The optimum time to prune all fruit trees is just before bloom. Pruning allows the tree to direct nutrients to branches that will bear high quality fruit. The objective is to remove dead, diseased, or damaged wood.
Also, remove shoots that are growing straight up or straight down, as neither provides good fruit development. Growth crisscrossing the center of the tree should be removed as well. A more open tree allows greater light penetration and air circulation, thereby increasing fruit quality and reducing disease and insect pressure.
According to Dr. Richard Marini, Extension Horticulturist for Tree Fruits at Virginia Tech, low temperatures in January can kill peach flower buds in some parts of the state. To assess bud injury, cut flower buds longitudinally with a razor blade. If the ovary at the base of the bud is brown, the bud is dead. If more than 70 percent of the buds appear dead, then pruning and fertilizer application should be modified. Apply half the normal (0.15 pounds N/year of tree age/tree up to year six) nitrogen about one month before bloom. Delay pruning until new shoot growth is four inches long. Do
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