CITRUS don't need PEACHES to put out a welcome mat for pests, LOL, they are perfectly able to attract any number of pests on their own! I did have dwarf peach and I was not expecting it to be COVERED in beautiful peaches the very first year (in the ground though). Well, some critter got to EVERY last one of them the very MOMENT they were ripe for picking (birds, raccoons, squirrels???). Funny, I was reminiscing about that tree recently so purchased a new one in my new location, but I have big time deer so will keep mine on the upper deck; one of the reasons my fruit collection tends to focus on Citrus, is that they are not considered disable by the local deer. I don't think my recent acquisition is a dwarf, but maybe I can dwarf it my keeping it in a container. Go for it! Good luck!

don't waste your money. Buy a red haven peach and plant the seed. It will come up next year and in 3 years you will have peaches. I have 14 seed grown red havens and they really produce great peaches.

Steve

As for deer and goats, they leave most citrus alone; but they adore Meyer lemons.

I got a dwarf peach like that from Home Depot or Lowe's or something for like $13. It flowers and fruits but I think the squirrels eat them before they get much bigger than walnuts.

I have one in a big 15 gallon container, I havent gotten the first peach from it in 3 years. It also grows so slowly. But it could just be me doing something wrong though.

Like steve, I much prefer the red haven. Just put it in ground and forget the "patio" peaches.

I have an inground peach tree. It produces 2 - 3 shopping bags full of peaches each year but the critters get ALL of them when they are almost ripe.

Vlad,

Put a net over the tree when they are almost ripe...it's a simple solution

Goats will devour any citrus tree they can reach. Rats will eat the sweeter citrus fruit if they have no better source of food.

I also have a large peach tree that produces tons of peaches. After nearly 10 years, last year I tasted ONE! The squirrels love them! I tried covering it years ago when it was smaller, but it was hard to get it all. Now it’s too big (at least for me to cover). I use the tree to hang all my bird feeders now :/. Maybe I’ll get lucky this year!

Laura, don't the bird feeders attract squirrels?

I think what was so astounding when I lost my fruit, was that there was absolutely NO TRACE of anything (no torn flesh, no pits, NOTHING). I was advised to use cayenne spray at the time but since essentially given up on fruit (except for the Citrus and some figs..., which don't seem as attractive to them in comparison).

takes care of squirrels without killing them

Do you guys think those little buggers would come all the way up my deck just to eat the fruit? One of the things I loved about that lil peach tree was that it was container size.

get a Labrador for your yard and away goes the pests............................. :)

I have a pluot, two plums, an apricot, an apple and a persimmon. The first year the squirrels got most of them. The second year the pluots and plums ripened around the same time, and there was enough to go around, squirrels, neighbors and me! I am not sure what prevented the squirrel pillage the second year! I would take my chances with the patio tree, but are they that expensive where you are? I could get a 3 foot tree for $30 most of the time, and my area is expensive!

They definitely will Atheen! Squirrels come onto my family's porch all the time to snack on their tree nuts and leave behind nut shavings. We have a peach tree right in front of the porch and one year I was excited to try them but one day they were almost all gone! And just like jurasico, no sign of who took them and that they were stolen at all. Looked as if the fruit simply vanished until one day I saw a squirrel sitting on a branch, snacking on one of the close to ripe peaches! I stood very close to the squirrel and it found eating the peach more important than running away from me lol!

Nik,

I have a Meyer lemon farm with about 10,000 Meyers and maybe twenty other citrus varieties. I had 17 goats (I love goats); and they never touched any citrus except the Meyers, which they ate every day. Maybe if there were no Meyers, they might have eaten other citrus; but I finally sold the goats; because my business is growing Meyers.

Your goats were probably too pampered. Plus, I'm not talking about the fruit, I'm talking about the trees.. About the only plant goats will leave alone over here is oleanders.

Saw this same variety (Bonanza) at Lowe's today. Good sized tree for $50. In case you have a Lowe's near you.

I do! Thank you I will check it out.

Steve, I thought you might like this method for getting rid of rats. It will probably also work on squirrels. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwXdQy5Bsjc&feature=youtu.be

I have 2 Apricot trees at home.... Both grown from seed. 1 gave us hundreds of fruits last summer and is maybe 5-6 years old... The other is younger, maybe 3-4 years old and finally put out fruit this year. It has about 15 baby apricots on it. We never cover or protect the trees here in Canada... I'm 90% both of them are Apricot trees but they might be a peach or Nectarine... I always mix them up.

I managed getting myself an extended tendons tendonitis in my right wrist. In a brace for another 3 weeks. No dwarf peach tree for me this year.

Oh... Here's a picture of the flowers on the tree.... The flowers are all gone now and left behind little fruits.

Next year, /sigh. :(

Oh, yuck, Atheen, feel better soon!

KC