How To Keep Your Peach Tree Happy & Healthy All Winter For A Tasty Harvest Next Year

If you have wanted to grow peach trees in your chilly locale, you'll be happy to learn these juicy, delicious fruits are among fruit trees you didn't know you could grow in colder climates. Getting peach trees to survive and thrive in chillier areas is all a matter of winterizing them. Let's start with the care tasks you should skip. Between September and early January, after peach trees are dormant, don't prune the tree as part of winterization because doing so will reduce its winter hardiness. Also avoid pruning heavily in the summer so it will have sufficient carbohydrate reserves as the tree approaches winter, though it's fine to remove dead or broken limbs. 

Similarly, skip fertilizing your peach tree with nitrogen fertilizer before winter, and don't use nitrogen on your lawn within 20 feet of any peach trees. Both pruning and nitrogen fertilization stimulate new growth, which would be susceptible to winter damage. These activities can also delay dormancy, depriving your peach tree of the number of "chilling hours" (hours of overnight temperatures between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit) it needs to properly set fruit. The number of hours needed is tied to the specific peach tree variety and ranges from 100 to 1,000.

Desirable peach tree winterization tasks start with the essential fall task that will help your fruit tree survive winter – cleanup and sanitation. To prevent any disease spread, remove any remaining fruits from the tree or on the ground and clear away any debris. Add a layer of mulch around the tree to help insulate roots, keeping the mulch several inches from the peach tree's trunk.

For a healthy harvest come spring, protect the trunk of your peach tree from pests and extreme weather fluctuations. Trunk guards, especially for young trees, protect them from being nibbled on by rabbits, mice, and voles. You can purchase these as a commercial product or DIY one by fashioning hardware cloth into a tube shape that wraps around the trunk and is fastened closed with wire or zip ties; consider a stake to hold the tube away from the bark. Mature peach tree trunks also need protection from sunscald and bark that cracks as a result of freeze and thaw cycles and the sun's reflection on snow. This protection is accomplished by painting the trunk with a 50-50 mix of white interior latex paint and water.

Continue regular watering routines up until the tree becomes dormant and occasionally afterward. Check your tree for pests. If needed, you can use pesticide sprays especially formulated for trees in dormancy; always follow label instructions. These are effective on pests like the peach twig borer. Ensure you're covered on year-round care by learning essential gardening tips for growing healthy peach trees.