A split down the trunk right at the V where the two main branches diverged and the trunk bore the most strain. This was our fault - we could have pruned better, shaped the tree's growth better when it was much younger, thinned the growing fruit more, and probably a dozen other things. Luckily, the weaker part (on the right in this picture) originally fell on and was supported by a chain link fence and the tree's vasculature wasn't compromised. So we sort of tied it back together and staked up some of the branches while the fruit was the heaviest.
Which brings us to...
Part II. Our peach tree had a very, very good year. We got bushels of fruit from it: enough to freeze a little, can four different batches of jam, conserve, chutney, puree, make a couple cakes, eat in our oats, give some away, and blah blah blah... And the other great thing was that the peaches were amazing - sweet, juicy and oh so tasty.
I really wish I had taken a picture of the cake I made.
Part III: What do we do now? Prune heavily? Chop off half the tree? (Probably not.) How will the peach tree weather coming seasons?
Part IV: The moral of the story is that even if you have a humongous crack right through your trunk and you can't stand up straight and it looks like you don't have a chance, you can still have an amazing and miraculous season. I can't promise what will happen to you in future seasons though. That remains for the gardener to decide :)
Love part IV, the best.
ReplyDeleteI can tell you right now that it's going to get a severe haircut...So says the gardener.
ReplyDeleteOur peach tree had a similar problem, but with two core branches splitting from each other. We cut it down to size, a stump, but it is now growing back so pretty. I'm sure it will split again with heavy growth, or any growth at all. Sad. It's hard to keep up with all the gardening this time of year! Love you guys :) Peaches GALORE!! Yum!!
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