Hi rjunga,

Here in central Alabama, our extention folks recommend pruning peach trees when they're blooming as pruning stimulates growth. I pruned mine about 2 weeks ago and they're doing fine.

Rginja:

I prune my stone fruit trees -- peaches, apricots, plums and cherries, after they have bloomed and set fruit. Since I never know for sure when we might get a hard freeze in April, I figure the more blossoms and fruit I have the better, since there will likely be more survivors.

But after the danger of cold injury is past, and after I have thinned and selected the fast-growing peaches I want to keep, I prune the peaches to allow light to strike the fruiting branches, removing substantial amounts of top growth, especially in the centers. This usually happens in early to mid-May. My objective is not a large number of small, poorly developed peaches, but big, fat, sweet peaches.

There is still plenty of time for new fruiting wood growth for the following seasons, usually too much, and when this happens I prune again in mid to late June. I am letting my peach trees alone for now, except for some late dormant spraying with copper.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA