If you can do so without major disruption to your plans, I would put off planting until the spring. Without knowing the pot size, I'm guessing you're going to have to do some root pruning, and you definitely do NOT want to do that in the fall! It'll be just fine in the pot, although I would place it in a cool shed or unheated garage through the winter to protect the roots from excessive cold.

Site preparation is important, as peaches DO NOT like extended wetness. What is your site like? If it doesn't drain well, consider building a raised bed of six to eight inches, perhaps six feet across or so. There are a variety of materials you could use to hold the bed up, like Trax lumber and angle brackets, decorative cement pieces, etc.

Dig the hole at least twice as big as the pot, and twice as deep. They prefer slightly acid soil, and sandy loam is the best. Amend with mushroom compost, pine bark mulch, etc., and sand or perlite if necessary to enhance looseness.

Are you going to need irrigation during the summer months? Then this is a good time to install a dripline to the site from an outside faucet or water valve.

When you remove the roots from the pot, chances are that you will see roots wrapping around the perimeter of the pot. This is not the time to be gentle...grit your teeth and trim them all so that they will grow straight -- especially the tap root. If you don't, they will continue to grow circular and could eventually strangle themselves and kill the tree. This is why you need to do this in the spring after it has leafed, because the tree is in "growth mode" at that time. This time of year it needs the energy stored in the roots for the approaching winter.

Good luck!

-Bruce

Bruce,

I was going to post this same question, so thank you for the answer. I do have one more issue to ask about. Where do I store my trees and how? Is the garage enough protection? I saw an example of wrapping the tree, pot and all in harware cloth, and filling it with straw. Right now I have about 20 trees in pots, due to the fact that shoulder surgery prevented my husband from removing our shade trees as we hoped. (apple, peach, apricot, pear, cherry, plum, etc.) Anyway, is the garage enough protection? They are in 10 gallon pots right now.