It looks like the nursery had those guys growing too close together in their pots; they are a difficult shape to make a low tree out of due to such high branching. If those were my trees I would start over - head them back to 2-3' and select some good laterals when it sprouts from the dormant buds on the trunk.

Scott

Thanks, Scott. A few more questions:

1. Olpea's warning about pruning below a visible bud in a recent thread (Peach Tree Pruning) has stuck with me -- I assume that a dormant bud would be considered a visible bud in this context?

2. Would any bud scar that's not showing signs of opening this season constitute a dormant bud? That would make sense, but I'm new at this and don't want to take anything for granted.

3. Finally, to further complicate matters, both trees began to open both flower and leaf buds since I last looked at them this morning (we've had a big warm-up in the last week). Does that change anything, or is still safe to prune so severely?

1. My experience has been that if the tree is healthy it will bud. There are some dormant buds along the trunk you can see and there are also adventitious buds which form when there are no other buds.
2. Yes.
3. It is best to get them before any significant leaf growth since the initial leaf push uses up a great deal of energy. When spring grafting I let the rootstock grow a whole set of leaves then chop them all off and put the graft on and the stock pretty much always grows back so it can take it, but if you have a weak stock, no dormant buds so the tree will need to form adventitious buds, and a weak nursery stock, it may not make it. I don't know your tree health but would guess if the leaves are less than 1" long you will be OK.

Scott

Hey looking at your pictures some more I would say those #3 branches on the top tree are still partly alive, just dead at the tips. Cut to see if there is green underneath there. If so, just keep three forks there, the main one cut way back and those two little ones. On the other tree cut off the fat stem and leave 6" of that tiny one running almost parallel which will form more scaffolds from its buds. This is a more cautious approach given the fact that the trees are already leafing out.

Scott

I think you're right about the those lower branches on the first tree. I did a quick inspection this morning, and I saw some signs of life. In fact, after closer inspection, I think I can head both trees off where you suggested and still have some active buds. The leaves aren't even fully out yet (the buds are just beginning to open), so I think I'll go ahead and prune this evening. Thanks again...