Peach

Plant hardy varieties (e.g. ‘Pilot’, ‘Amsden’, vineyard peach) in a wind-sheltered, sunny spot, ideally trained as an espalier against a south- or west-facing wall; mulch the root zone of young trees thickly with leaves or brushwood in the first winters and wrap the trunk with hessian or horticultural fleece. The greatest danger is late frost on the early-appearing blossom. When frost is forecast, hang horticultural fleece loosely over the flowering tree overnight; container peaches go in a bright, cool, frost-free place during severe, lasting frost.

Grafting (recommended for cultivars): The most reliable method for peaches true to type is grafting onto a rootstock, usually plum or peach seedlings; almond or apricot are also compatible. Use chip or T-budding: on plum rootstock the good window is in July, on peach or almond seedlings rather in August to early September, when the bark lifts easily. Cut the scion from a healthy shoot of this year, set the bud cleanly into the rootstock and fix the spot with grafting tape. The bud sprouts in spring of the following year. Grafted trees benefit from the hardier rootstock.

Cuttings (possible, but demanding): Hardwood cuttings, which you take in winter from one-year-old shoots, root most reliably. In summer you can also take semi-ripe shoots of 10 to 15 cm, but then you need a very evenly moist, airy environment. Make the cut at a slant, remove flower buds and insert the cutting in moist seed compost in a warm, bright place at around 20 to 25 °C. Do not feed before roots form. Rooting is generally uncertain with peach and takes several weeks; the resulting tree is on its own roots and therefore more frost-tender without the protective rootstock.

Sowing from the stone (only for varieties that come true from stone): After the autumn harvest, store the stone over winter in damp sand in a cool, dark place (stratification, not in the freezer) and sow it in February/March. Commercial varieties do not come true from stone; they segregate. Only a few old local varieties such as the Vorgebirgspfirsich are suitable for coming true. Seedlings can later serve as rootstock for grafting. It takes around 3 to 4 years until the first fruit.