Pruning Methods and Technical Key Points for Flowering Peach During the Growing Season

In northern gardens, the flowering peach (Prunus persica) is an indispensable ornamental tree species for early spring. Its tree form is graceful and its flowers are charming, giving an excellent ornamental effect. However, it grows vigorously and produces many branches, and its canopy becomes dense, causing excessive nutrient consumption and poor ventilation and light penetration, which is unfavorable for branch ripening and flower bud differentiation. Therefore, it should be timely shaped and pruned, especially pruned during the growing season (also called summer pruning), which plays a rather important role in the cultivation and management of flowering peach. Summer pruning can reduce ineffective growth, save nutrients, improve light conditions, strengthen nutrient synthesis, and regulate the opening angle of the main branches to balance tree vigor, thereby promoting plump flower buds at the base of new shoots. Reasonable and timely summer pruning not only lays the foundation for winter pruning but also reduces the amount of winter pruning. It can be said that summer pruning plays a decisive role in the early formation of the beautiful form of flowering peach. Summer pruning of flowering peach often adopts such technical measures as bud removal, sprout removal, pinching, shoot twisting, and branch bending.

1. Bud removal and sprout removal means timely removing the water sprouts inside the canopy, the upright shoots on the scaffold branches, the competitive buds below the pruning cuts, and the buds on the upper part of branches after flowering, and for tender twin shoots "remove one and keep one," while for young trees remove strong shoots and keep weak shoots. This method can reduce useless new buds and shoots, save nutrients, improve light, and reduce the number of wounds caused by branch thinning during winter pruning.

2. Pinching means removing a small section of the tender tip at the end of a branch. Through pinching, the elongation growth of the branch can be controlled, prompting the lower part of the branch to form relatively plump flower buds. In the early stage of new shoot growth, pinching can also promote the early sprouting of secondary shoots, and such secondary shoots can differentiate relatively plump flower buds.

3. Shoot twisting means twisting the upper half of a non-lignified and upright vigorous shoot 180°, and tucking it into the leaf axil on the lower side (taking care to prevent it from springing up again). This method changes its growth direction, controls growth, promotes its transformation into a fruiting and flowering branch, and at the same time also improves light conditions.

4. Branch bending means pulling the main branches or side branches open and fixing them at the angle required by the tree form. The most suitable opening angle is about 80°. If the opening angle is not large enough, the phenomenon of "strong upper part and weak lower part" is likely to occur, and it should not be bent into an arch shape, otherwise vigorous shoots will sprout at the curved part. Through "branch bending," tree vigor can be moderated and the phenomenon of "bare legs" at the lower part of the trunk and branches can be prevented. Generally, for large branches more than three years old, this can be done from May to September, while the main branches of young trees can only be pulled open from June to July. Pruning of flowering peach during the growing season often varies according to variety, tree age, tree vigor, and climatic conditions. The pruning time and frequency should be arranged according to the actual conditions of the cultivation site, generally from after flowering to around August, and pruning can be done 2 to 5 times.