Peaches
Prunus persica

Many consider the peach the most delectable of all stone fruits, they are certainly worth the extra care required to grow successfully. Peaches sold in larger stores are usually shipped unripened, due to the fact that the ripened fruit is easily bruised, so they never acquire the full taste of naturally plant ripened fruit.
Nectarines are a sport (naturally occurring variant) of peaches, being so closely related growing they can be cultivated the same way, but note nectarines are less hardy.
Originally natives of China, peaches are now commercially grown in the Mediterranean area, where the climate is warm and dry.
To do well peaches need plenty of sunshine and protection from the wind in early spring. This is because they flower very early in the year and these conditions will help increase the chance of pollination. In the summer they will need even more sun for the fruit to ripen fully and in autumn warm dry weather for the new wood to ripen. A cold period in the winter would also be beneficial, as this allows the tree to rest as well as killing of harmful pests and diseases.

Site and soil
Due to the early flowering period, avoid exposed positions and frost pockets. In cooler areas they can be grown up against south facing walls, they will benefit from the warm micro climate created in this area.
Peaches can not tolerate poorly drained soil, the ideal soil would be a medium, well drained, limey loam, not less than 60 cms deep. The roots should not get cramped, so when planting make sure they are at least 23cms away from the wall.

Planting
Well rotted compost or manure should be dug into the soil at least two months before planting and about two weeks prior rake in 120grams of balanced fertilizer. Because peaches are vigorous by nature, do not over-fertilize the soil. This would result in, lush sappy wood and leaf growth at the expense of fruit. Late autumn when the soil is still warm, is the best planting time. As with any fruit tree water well after planting.

Training and pruning a bush shaped tree
The main advantage in training peaches as a bush shaped tree is that they require less pruning than a fan shaped tree. This is because trees grown in the open produce less vegetative growth, but on the downside less fruit also. The pruning of a new tree is illustrated below...

The main aim of pruning is to provide a continual supply of new wood, on which the following years fruit will be carried. Pruning should be done late in spring, after the blossom has set. Do not prune any healthy and strong growing branches and any pruning cuts should be sealed with a protective sealer. After cropping, encourage new fruiting shoots evenly over the tree by cutting back to a stub about a quarter of the fruited side shoots.
The branches of an established tree will eventually begin to droop, these should be removed, you should have a good supply of young upright branches in the center of the tree.


Training a fan shaped tree
To accommodate a fan shaped peach the wall should be at least 2.4 metres high and 5 metres wide. Place wire horizontally on the wall 20 cms apart.

Care of the fruit
Over cropping will result in small fruit and may reduce the quantity of the following years crop. If a peach tree is over cropped year after year, this can permanently weaken it.
Remove all the flowers on the tree in its first season after it has been planted, so the trees resources will be channeled into the production of healthy wood. The next year, thin the fruitlets so that no more than six peaches develop fully.
Once the tree is mature and cropping normally, thinning is essential and should be done in two stages over a period of a few weeks, this will reduce shock to the tree. The first thinning consists of reducing all pairs of fruits to singles, removing undersized and badly placed fruit. Do not thin drastically at this stage as some fruit fall naturally of it's own accord. In the early summer fruits that have not produced stones will fall, the remain fruit should be thinned to 30cms apart.
Depending on the variety the fruits will be ready from mid summer to early autumn. The fruit is ripe when the flesh feels soft to finger pressure at the stalk end, a ripe fruit will be easy to pull away from the plant.