"Growing Peaches"

Growing peaches in your garden is fairly straightforward as long as you can guarantee a frost-free spring. Not so easy for many of us.

Peach trees flower very early in the spring and a frost will kill off the blooms making the plant unable to develop fruits. The best solution is to grow them in a protected environment.

This could be in a polytunnel or large greenhouse, or simply protect under plastic during a cold spell. Fruit trees can be trained to stay small and will take up far less room in your garden than you may think. A sheltered fence can be used to train your trees into fan shapes. This also gives a sturdy fixing for a plastic cover if the weather does get cold, or a net to protect fruit from the birds later on.

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Growing peaches in the US with Nature Hills. They have a vast selection of fruit trees. This link takes you to their homepage where you will find a direct link to 'peach trees' Growing peaches in the US

In the UK Crocus are a good supplier:

Crocus UK Click on 'plants' then 'fruit'.

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Planting peaches: Generally, trees and large shrubs are planted in the autumn but check with your local supplier or online for recommended dates. Suppliers usually stock trees when they are ready to plant, but it's always best to double check.

Prepare the ground at the end of the summer and remove any perrenial wees and non organic debris. Choose a sunny and well-protected spot in the garden. The ground should be deep and well drained. Peach trees won't thrive in waterlogged soil and also need some depth to get their roots established. Roots take up water in dry months as well as nutrients.

Dig a large hole, plant your tree, spreading out the roots carefully, and fill the hole back in with the soil you dug out mixed with some well rotted manure or compost. Using your heel, firm the tree in place. If you are building a structure for your tree to grow over, this should be done before planting the tree so as not to disturb or damage the roots.

Caring for peaches Peach blossom arrives very early in the year and can be destroyed by even a light frost. Protect your trees if there is likely to be a frost. If the blossom stays put, then all you need to do is make sure the tree gets enough water during the summer. Don't let it dry out. Watch out for aphids or any other pest. Growing peaches will attract the birds later in the season so if you can cover with a bird friendly net. Bird friendly meaning they don't get tangled in the net, not friendly as in they can help themselves to your fruit!

Harvest the peaches as they become ripe and drop into your hand at a touch. After all the fruit has been harvested, trim back your tree to the shape you want. Check on the recommended pruning instructions that came with your tree as different varieties may require different pruning techniques.

Growing peaches in the home garden isn't as easy as growing apples but well worth a try, especially in a warm region.

You can find more about growing fruit, vegetables and herbs and even a few recipe ideas in my book recently published with Findhorn Press. Click on this link Grow Your Own Pharmacy to take you to the page where you can read more about the book. You really can grow enough fruit and veg to keep your family glowing with good health!

Happy Gardening!

More "Garden Fruits" Reading

http://www.flower-and-garden-tips.com/growingpeaches.html