If you have a nectarine tree in your garden, you should prune it regularly. This allows you to increase the quality of the harvest.
Anyone who keeps a nectarine tree in their garden has the advantage of being able to harvest the sweet fruits of the plant with their own effort. You know how much love and effort goes into these because you tend to the tree yourself - rather than just buying the nectarines from the supermarket. Behind this laborious care is not only watering, fertilizing or overwintering the plant, but also cutting. But does pruning a nectarine tree make any sense - and if so, why?
Short profile of nectarine tree
The nectarine tree (Prunus persica nectarina) is a Chinese tree species that was brought to Europe as early as the 17th century and has been very popular here ever since. Anyone who wants to bring in a rich harvest with the nectarine tree has good chances throughout Europe, as long as they can be offered a mild climate and the needs of the fruit tree are addressed. The advantage of the nectarine tree is not only its fruit, which tastes sweet like a peach, but also its attractive flowers, which develop in spring. The care of the tree is also very easy and requires little effort, which is why the fruit tree is ideal for all gardeners who are looking for an attractive plant with added value. If you want to take care of the nectarine tree properly - which also includes pruning - you should know the needs of the plant. We will go into these superficially below so that the reasons for the procedure when pruning the nectarine tree can be better understood.
What are the arguments for and against a nectarine tree?
A nectarine tree has some advantages, but also disadvantages:
✔ bears sweet, peach-like fruits with a smooth skin shortly after flowering✔ can also be cultivated in a container
✔ tolerates the European climate well
✔ does not make so many demands on the Care if it is an older tree
✔ attractive, decorative flowers in spring
✔ this is a self-pollinating fruit tree
✔ thrives with the right choiceof the location especially good
✘ Thrives less well if the location is not right
✘ Nectarine tree is susceptible to fungal diseases
✘ Young plants need a little more attention to care
What is the importance of caring for the nectarine tree?
First of all, the freshly planted nectarine tree must feel comfortable in its location, otherwise even the best care will not do much. A good place should offer the nectarine tree a lot of sun, so it should ideally be in a southern location on the property. At the same time, it is important that this location is sheltered from the wind and provides moist, nutrient-rich soil. Also, keep in mind that the nectarine tree can take up a lot of space over the years, so it needs a lot of space from other plants, the house, and garden decorations.
Young nectarine trees require a little more care than older trees in the first few years. So they need regular watering and often also a support for the trunk. It is also necessary to protect them from the cold. So you have to protect the root system with fleece or brushwood and also cover both the trunk and the crown over the winter. Only when it comes to fertilizers are the young trees quite undemanding. Here it is sufficient if you fertilize them occasionally in the spring.
Older nectarine trees, on the other hand, require significantly less care: you only have to water them when they are dry. Otherwise, the nectarine tree can largely cope on its own under good conditions. However, you will occasionally need to prune a fruit tree.
Pruning nectarine tree
One reason for pruning the nectarine tree is to protect against fungal diseases: Thinning out the tree helps to protect it from fungal diseases or at least to prevent them from attacking the tree quickly. Pruning the nectarine tree can also offer the advantage that it grows better and not only grows more visually appealing, but also appears stronger and more stable. Some pruning can even be used to rejuvenate the fruit tree, as well as to bring in a better, but somewhat smaller harvest. So the benefits of pruning the nectarine tree are obvious - but when is the best time to prune the nectarine tree?
➪ Time
At the right time for pruning the nectarine tree, you should know that as a young tree it does not actually need pruning for the first two to three years - during this time you canSo save work. Otherwise, the pruning of the fruit tree takes place in spring, from April to May most experienced gardeners carefully carry out their pruning on the nectarine tree. But how is the cutting done?
➪ What should you watch out for?
When cutting, it is important to note that the nectarine tree always produces its harvest in the same places - if you cut these away, the harvest will be correspondingly smaller. It is important to recognize the shoots that bear fruit. They have fine flower buds between the leaf buds and should be avoided when cutting. Shoots of the tree without flower buds of this type, on the other hand, can be cut off by at least a third if you like. For example, you can make these cuts without damaging the nectarine tree:
- Inward growing, very steep or unsightly growing shoots can be removed
- Twigs can also be bitten by animals, these must also be removed
- Dead twigs or very sick looking shoots may also be cut off
- twigs can be cut to thin out the crown
➪ Support Cut Heal
If you want to help the tree heal, be careful to use a sharp tool to cut it. This means that the interfaces are not crushed or torn, but are separated cleanly and smoothly. The cut should also be held as diagonally as possible so that it heals more easily and water can drain off better, so that rot is avoided. It is also important not to cut directly behind the buds, but preferably in front of them.
Conclusion
As you can see, it doesn't take any expert knowledge or special tools to prune nectarine trees to keep them he althy for a long time. Not only the general care of the tree is very easy to carry out, but also the pruning of the fruit tree. By the way, you don't have to be afraid of this. Since a nectarine tree does not grow quite as fast, there is also very little garden waste, so that disposal is not so difficult at first. If you remove small, unsightly growing shoots immediately, you will save yourself a lot of work over time. So it is easy to let a young nectarine tree grow into a stately plant with a lot of effort and care.