Peach Trees

Growing your own fresh fruit is easy and you get the fun of harvesting and eating fruit fresh off the tree!

All the cold-hardy Stark Bro's peach trees we offer are self-pollinating, you only need one tree to enjoy your own fresh, juicy peaches.

They are also all dwarf trees, reaching only about 8-10' tall and 8' wide at maturity. They may be small but their fruit is full-sized and they start bearing the second year after planting with heavy production beginning the fourth season.

Peaches are easy to grow, too. All they need is a well-drained spot in full sun. If your garden is heavy clay amend the planting hole with ½ mushroom compost or peat moss to the native soil.

One of the best ways to ensure a healthy tree is to fertilize it annually in spring; mulch it three-inches deep with shredded bark; and water it during dry periods. This will not only help to protect against borers but it will provide bountiful harvest.

It is suggested that a new peach, apricot, or nectarine tree be planted every 5 to 7 years to provide uninterrupted yields. 10 to 12 years is usually the maximum life for one of these trees in Central Illinois. Cherries and plums have a longer life span.

The term “freestone” means the flesh pulls away easily from the pit when the peach is fully ripe.

Dwarf Burbank July Elberta Peach
Stark Bro's considers this their best overall peach! It has the smallest pit-to-fruit ratio of any peach tree, is extremely sweet and gorgeous - bright red with golden yellow flesh - and is beautiful, too. In the spring the rose-red blossoms fill the air with their perfume. Freestone, ripening early August.

Dwarf Reliance Peach
The best peach for hardiness in this area. The freestone golden fruit has a red blush that’s great for canning. These medium to large fruits begin to ripen in mid-August.

Borers and Peach Trees
An amber-colored, gummy exudation mixed with sawdust on your peach or cherry tree signals that you have a borer. The most destructive pest of the peach family is the Greater Peach Tree Borer, followed closely by the Lesser Peach Tree Borer. The peach family, Prunus, includes cherry, apricot, plum, Purpleleaf Sandcherry, Flowering Almond, and Nectarine. If you have any of these you should consider control.

The Greater Peach Tree Borer will be found at the soil line or just below. Look for the Lesser Peach Tree Borer on the trunk or lower branches; it is more commonly found in the crotches or trunk wounds. These boring "worms" feed on the growing tissue called cambium and inner bark. Early signs appear as yellowing or sparse leaves on one or more branches and stunted growth, especially on younger trees. The Greater Peach Tree Borer favors younger trees while the Lesser Peach Tree Borer prefers older trees, though a tree of any age is susceptible to both.

Development
The adults, clear-winged moths, emerge from pupation in late spring with the Lesser Peach Tree Borer appearing a month earlier than the other borer. Both overlap their egg-laying and hatching which occurs over a long period in the summer. Eggs are laid in bark cracks and crevices or old wounds. After hatching, the larvae begin boring and feeding. This is the most easily controlled stage. Once the larva is in the tree control is nearly impossible. Over the winter the borer lives within the tree.

Control
Recommendations for timing vary though it is wise to arrange your timings to control both. To do this, plan to begin spraying when Mockorange begins to flower and Bridalwreath Spirea is about done, usually late May, early June. Continue spraying at three-week to monthly intervals through mid-August. Use Hi Yield Dursban insecticide, spraying it to thoroughly wet the bark from the lower branches to the soil line; coverage must include the undersides of the limbs, crotches, and the complete trunk.

Another method to aid in control of only the Greater Peach Tree Borer is to use Ferti-lome's Tree Borer Crystals. Level the soil around the trunk base, removing all grass. Any gummosis that is present should be removed. Apply the crystal in a ring around the tree staying one-inch from the tree and no farther than three inches. Cover the crystals with six inches of mounded soil and tamp with the back of the spade. Do this in early October and remove the crystals and soil in four weeks. This control is not suggested for young trees during hot weather, or when the soil temperatures are below 60°F. For a one year tree use 1/4 oz.; two year tree requires 1/4 to 1/2 oz.; 3 to 5 year tree will need 3/4 oz.; and 6+ years use 1 to 1 1/2 oz..

Unfortunately, no peach tree is safe against the borer without the above measures and there are no biological controls for the pest.

If you need any further information, we're here to help.