In your mind’s eye, when you think of peach trees, you would likely imagine the sweet, juicy fruit that they yield.
But where there is fruit, there are then blossoms and if you are an apple tree owner, you may have seen how beautiful the peach tree blooms.
Peach trees typically bloom approximately three to five months before they develop fruit.
There can be a significant amount of variation in this depending on last winter’s temperatures, as well as the variety of peach tree.
Peach tree owners typically want to get peach trees to bloom even earlier and are typically ways that can help you have earlier blooms.
In this post – we’ll discuss how you can actually help your peach trees bloom and give you some insights into these trees that flower.
Do Ornamental Peach Trees Produce Fruit?
Landscapers opt for ornamental peach trees in their landscape design mainly because of the flowering blossom and color.
There is a good chance the ornamental peach trees may produce fruit.
There are single and double flowering peach trees, but the single flowering peach trees are the ones more likely to produce fruit.
The problem with most ornamental peach trees is that even if they produce fruit, the quality is usually not compareable to your standard fruiting trees.
When Do Peach Trees Blossom?
Depending on the peach tree you purchased, there is no set timeline for when it will bloom.
It is possible that you may wait three or four years for a peach tree to bloom. But taking care of your tree and some patience will go a long way down the road.
Typically, blooming could occur about three to five months prior to the tree fruiting.
There are so many variables to this and almost every tree will look different. You will become familiar with what is normal for the tree you are caring for once you get the hang out of it.
For the Most Part – blooming will occur in the spring but whether it is early or later spring will depend a lot of the previous winter.
Chill hours are required for peach trees and these are hours when the tree is exposed to temperatures at or below 45ºF.
A healthy tree will require slowly acclimating to temperatures in order to obtain as many as 600 to 900 chill hours.
When spring arrives, the overall number of chill hours accumulated will determine how many flowers the tree will have and how many of those will open.
While this may be hit or miss, go ahead and choose the right kind of peach tree.
If you live in a much colder area, it is OK to get a tree that needs a higher number of chill hours prior to blooming.
In a warm climate, try to get a fruit tree that doesn’t need too many hours of chill or else it may not bloom.
Getting Your Peach Tree To Bloom More Quickly
When those beautiful blooms come in your peach trees, it can add a beautiful splash of color to your yard.
However, unless you provide great care to your tree it won’t produce those beautiful flowers.
The following tips will help to provide the best care of your tree and may also increase your tree blooming more quickly and produce more bloom.
Prune Your Peach Tree
To help your peach tree produce flowers, you will need to focus your efforts on keeping it pruned.
Pruning will not only help to create blooms but also assist in the crucial overall health and growth of the tree.
You will need to prune the tree around the end of the fall as it begins winter and see which branches need to be pruned:
- Select branches that are damaged or are nearing the end of their life cycle. These branches can take up moisture and nutrients, but are not really going to provide any flowers.
- Remove any branches that seem to have any disease issues.
- Older branches may also shade new growth, which will make it more difficult for that new growth to get adequate sunlight. So it’s always smart to remove old branches.
- The more old growth you remove, the more you will see new growth.
However, your tree care in terms of pruning does not stop there.
When spring arrives, you will need to prepare to prune any new shoots in addition to reducing any old branches you didn’t prune in the fall.
It may seem counterproductive to remove that new growth; however, keep in mind that the tree is going to grow quite a bit over the course of the season so you need to manage it.
If not, the tree may not be very healthy and those flowers are less likely to show.
Additionally, with new growth, we can expect to see no buds at all because flowering typically happens on wood that has been there for over a year.
So, pick up those pruning shears and prune the tree as necessary. If you do this, any nutrients and water that you gave the tree will now be designated and transported to areas of the tree that will subsequently flower!
Feed Your Peach Tree
Ensuring that your peach tree is adequately fertilized is critical to maximize flowering.
When completing this task, the best time to do so is in early spring while the temperature has not warmed drastically yet.
If you fertilize after the flowers bloom, it will be too late to help them.
Use a fertilizer that is much lower in nitrogen when fertilizing your peach tree.
Most fertilizers with less nitrogen tend to have better blooms and even bigger blooms. A fertilizer with a 5-10-10 ratio will work fine as well.
Water Your Peach Tree
In addition to ensuring a source of food, your peach tree is going to need a source of water if it is going to thrive.
What’s interesting about caring for peach trees is that instead of cold water, you’ll want to give warm water to the tree.
Keep an eye out for the flower buds beginning to break through and when you see this, use warm water to hydrate the roots of your tree.
The reason for this is although the buds will germinate in cold weather, they need warmth before they will fully flower.
For the most part, when the tree flowers will be down to the weather, but by watering with warm water, you might be able to kick things into better gear.
It certainly won’t be by much obtaining better flowers but every little helps as they say.
We would encourage caution in watering this way as there are many people that use water that is too hot.
NEVER attempt to water your peach tree with boiling water to “neutralize” the temperature of the soil. This approach will not work, it will create damage to the tree and draw back those blooms you are trying to encourage.
Keep And Eye On The Weather
As we noted previously, the weather plays an important role in deciding when your peach tree will bloom.
If the last frost of the previous summer arrives later in the year, you will not have a great season; If it is warmer earlier in the spring, then it is a better season.
The catch is, you can manipulate to get the tree to bloom early, but if frost happens to occur, they, unfortunately, then will just kill the blooms.
That’s why it’s critical to watch the long range forecast, as it will ultimately determine how to best address the situation.
Conclusion
Not only does a peach tree produce incredibly delicious and juicy fruit, but it also makes for an incredibly beautiful tree bursting with gorgeous flowers, making for a stunning spring flower display in your garden.
They usually bloom about three to five months before the fruit, but this can vary based on a number of factors.
Providing nothing but proper care for your new peach tree will help ensure the brightest and prettiest peach tree blooms.
Remember, however, that nature and the weather determine the fruit blooms as well, and you can only try to facilitate it.