‘Having a professional secateur – or hand pruner – with quality steel, which does not rust, is a must have for any professional or aspiring gardener,’ says Tom Wade of Sorbus International (opens in new tab), specialists in premium Japanese pruning tools. Sharp blades and clean cuts are important when learning how to prune a peach tree, so that pruning does not leave the tree vulnerable to fungal diseases entering wounds via damaged branches. Make an angled cut just above a bud – the node – this will ensure water drips away from the bud and does not sit in the prune wound. They fruit on second-year wood, so prune back last season’s growth by around a half to an outward facing bud this will concentrate energy into producing fruiting buds. Peach trees are among the best fast growing fruit trees.

Also remove rootstock suckers at the base these do nothing but drain the tree’s energy.

Rust fungus and brown rot spores love a moist, dark environment.

'Get air flowing around the tree, which deters disease.

If light can’t reach those bottom branches, the fruit won’t develop enough sugar,’ she adds. Leaves are like little solar panels that power the sugar development in each fruit. “Dead wood” takes energy from the tree that could be going to the thriving branches instead,’ says Villeneuve.

‘Make way for new growth by removing dead branches.These few essential steps will help simplify how to prune a peach tree:

‘The goal is to grow a few big, healthy, sweet fruits – rather than lots of small, not-so-tasty fruits – and to keep the tree healthy for years to come,’ she adds.

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