We planted this Red Baron Peach four winters ago. Last year it produced well. The birds were the only ones that got to enjoy them though. Anyhow, this is how it looked in March when it started to bloom. Red Baron Peach ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) You can see that it had blossoms all the way to the top, so I know it wasn't dead after our unusually cold winter. But... now look at it. Practically no leaves on the top 2/3rds. ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden ) The smaller branches are dead/brittle so I'll be trimming those off. The a couple of the larger branches have a few smaller leaves on them so I know it's not completely dead up there. Does anybody know what would cause this? And is there something I should do to help it out? Oh yeah... it has fruit there on the healthy bottom part.
Cheryl, do a scratch test. Scratch the bark with your thumbnail. If is alive it will be green underneath the bark. I suspect it died out and you need to trim it all the way back to the living area.
Thanks Carolyn. Wonder what caused it to die so suddenly? Do I go ahead and cut out the dead branches now? Or wait until the fruit is ripe? It's going to be one strange looking tree. All healthy on the bottom and two stragly branches sticking up. Poor thing. :'(
Cut it back as soon as you want. No point in leaving it, but it probably is better for it to do it sooner rather than later. The longer it has to scar over the cut this growing season the better to keep disease from setting in over the winter. Cit it right at the point of it being dead to get the live tissue a better chance of healing over in a smaller spot than further up the stem.
I had the same thing happen to my Cherry tree. I was told that it was from cold winter winds. Did you have a cold winter this year?
Yes Netty. We had an unusually cold winter. Plants that have survived for years didn't make it through. Did your Cherry tree recover?
I cut the dead parts off the top and the rest continued to do well last summer. I won't know how it fared this winter for a few weeks yet. Our winter was freakishly cold so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
I don`t think its dead unless maybe the tips of the branches. I think it got hit by a late frost. The bottom wasn`t affected like the top. You don`t always get a ground level frost and the top unless its really cold here in Texas. I would prune it back by 1/3 and just wait and see if it is just late due to the weather. Not all of mine get going at the same time either. Next year you really need to prune it a bit to prevent those tips from doing this. They are the most vulnerable to cold temps.
Thanks Mart. 98% of the top branches were dead all the way to the trunk. Just one "stalk" still has leaves up top and they don't look all that healthy, but at least they are alive. The bottom portion is doing well and the tiny peaches are doing good. When you say that I need to trim the "tips" in the fall... do you mean the very ends of every branch? And how far back would I go?
I prune ours back by 1/3 as soon as they are dormant,usually about February. Peaches produce on one year old wood so your new growth from last season will produce your peaches this year. Some of the old branches need to be pruned so you will have stronger new growth for next year. When you prune a branch it will start to make side shoots for your next years peaches. You might read for other methods for your variety but this applies to most peach and nectarine trees for the south. Yours is not full enough to worry about thinning the branches. A&M has pruning instruction for our area.
Thanks Mart... I'll keep on doing some reading up on it. It's little baby peaches are looking good. I even put some shiny foil strips on it today to maybe scare away the birds. Sure would be nice to at least eat on peach from it!
Try taking some tin pie plates and tie them on a string so they will flutter and spin. About three places on the tree should help scare the birds. Do this as close to ripening as you can since the birds will figure it out eventually.
I thought about the pie plates but i think they are too big. Maybe I can find some of those mini pie dishes, like they use for those mini pecan pies?
