Peach care guide: when & how to prune, fertilize and spray

When: from 3 weeks before the last spring frost until the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Apr 19 – May 10
• zones 6–7: about Mar 25 – Apr 15
• zones 8–10: about Feb 4–25

Pruning just before or at bloom reduces canker infection and lets you see which buds survived winter. Peaches need about 40% of last year's growth removed.

1. Keep 3–4 main scaffold branches angling outward, with the center open like a vase.
2. Remove any vertical shoots in the center, plus water sprouts and suckers.
3. Remove last year's fruited wood (gray, older).
4. Keep pencil-thick red one-year shoots evenly spaced 6–8 in (15–20 cm) apart. This year's fruit grows on them. Shorten them by about a third.
5. Lower the height so you can harvest from the ground or a short ladder.

Tools: Bypass pruners, Loppers, Pruning saw

When: 5–8 weeks after the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Jun 14 – Jul 5
• zones 6–7: about May 20 – Jun 10
• zones 8–10: about Apr 1–22

Trees set far more fruit than they can size up. Thinning gives bigger, better-tasting fruit, prevents broken branches and stops the tree alternating between heavy and empty years.

1. Wait until after the natural 'June drop', when fruit is about marble to walnut size.
2. Twist or snip off fruit so the survivors are spaced 6–8 in (15–20 cm) apart along the branch.
3. Remove the smallest, damaged or misshapen fruit first.
4. It feels wasteful, but you'll harvest about the same weight of much better fruit.

When: from 2 weeks before to 2 weeks after the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Apr 26 – May 24
• zones 6–7: about Apr 1–29
• zones 8–10: about Feb 11 – Mar 11

Peaches need steady growth to produce next year's fruiting wood.

1. Spread fertilizer around the drip line at bud break and water it in. Mature trees: about 1 lb (450 g) of actual nitrogen per year spread over 2 feedings.

What to use: 🌿 Organic tree & shrub food (e.g. Espoma Tree-tone 6-3-2) · Fruit tree spikes or 10-10-10 granular

When: 2–6 weeks after the first fall frost.

• zones 3–5: about Oct 15 – Nov 12
• zones 6–7: about Nov 8 – Dec 6
• zones 8–10: about Dec 15 – Jan 12

The leaf-curl fungus overwinters on bud scales. Spraying after leaves fall is half of the only effective control.

1. Once most leaves have dropped, spray the whole tree with copper or lime sulfur on a dry, calm day.

What to use: 🌿 Copper fungicide (e.g. Bonide Captain Jack's Liquid Copper) · 🌿 Lime sulfur (e.g. Lime-Sulfur Spray)

When: 4–7 weeks before the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Mar 22 – Apr 12
• zones 6–7: about Feb 25 – Mar 18
• zones 8–10: about Jan 7–28

The second, essential leaf-curl spray. Once buds start to open, it's too late.

1. Spray every branch and bud thoroughly before buds swell. Choose a dry day above 40°F/4°C.

What to use: 🌿 Copper fungicide (e.g. Bonide Captain Jack's Liquid Copper) · 🌿 Lime sulfur (e.g. Lime-Sulfur Spray)

When: 12–15 weeks after the last spring frost, then every 1 weeks (2 times a season).

• zones 3–5: about Aug 2–23
• zones 6–7: about Jul 8–29
• zones 8–10: about May 20 – Jun 10

Brown rot can ruin ripening fruit within days in humid weather.

1. Spray sulfur or captan 2–3 weeks before harvest, and again a week later. Check the label's pre-harvest interval.

What to use: 🌿 Wettable sulfur (e.g. Bonide Sulfur Plant Fungicide) · Captan (fruit tree fungicide)

When: from the first fall frost to 4 weeks after.

• zones 3–5: about Oct 1–29
• zones 6–7: about Oct 25 – Nov 22
• zones 8–10: about Dec 1–29

Spores of brown rot (pick off every mummified fruit) overwinter on fallen leaves and splash back up in spring. Removing them is the single best way to prevent next year's outbreak.

1. Rake up and remove fallen leaves and dropped fruit from under the plant.
2. Bag diseased material or put it in the trash. Don't compost it unless your pile gets hot (140°F/60°C+).
3. Cut out any dead or obviously diseased twigs you can see.

Tools: Rake, Bypass pruners