The very pink of peach perfection

Peaches have their moment of glory now, when their vivid pink flowers are out. This display is best on the flowering (non-fruiting or sterile) trees, but fruiting peaches will also be showy for a week or two.

Peaches are best suited to the temperate regions. If you want fruit, it is vital to select varieties that are low-chill – that is, those that need only a few cold nights to initiate flowering. Named varieties starting with ‘Florda’ are usually reliable. These were developed by a pomologist (fruit specialist) working at the University of Florida in the USA.

Alternatively, you can do what I’m planning this week – go round to a friend’s house and snaffle a few seedlings from under their peach trees. Peaches don’t come entirely true to type, but almost all seedling trees will produce reasonable fruit. Seedlings do take a bit longer to fruit than grafted varieties.

Because peaches are a bit iffy in our climate you will need to be prepared to manage them intensively. When first planting, train the tree to only three main branches so that you will get good air movement and limit fungal problems later. You will need to spray with Bordeaux mixture against peach leaf curl and brown rot disease.

Fruit fly is a major problem, and you should not grow this fruit if you are not prepared to act. Organic sprays are available now, but you must be vigilant and repeat spray after rain. Barrier fruit bags aren’t much use because the fruit grows tight in to the stem; your best bet is a strip of fabric wrapped loosely around the branch and covering the fruits.

Peaches need fertilising in autumn and watering throughout spring. To get good quality fruit, you will also need to thin out the fruitlets when they are about 2cm across, leaving only one fruit per 10cm.