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Peach trees

Peaches are a luxurious fruit originating in the Far East and now grown throughout warm temperate regions.

  • Amsden June

    Amsden June peach trees
    An early-ripening white-fleshed freestone peach from the USA, ready in June / July in the UK.
    • Picking season: Very early
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
    • Flesh colour: White
  • Avalon Pride

    Avalon Pride peach trees
    A disease-resistant yellow-fleshed peach, well-suited to growing outdoors in the UK.
    • Picking season: Mid
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
    • Flesh colour: Golden / Yellow
  • Bellegarde

    A well-regarded late-season traditional yellow-flesh peach.
    • Picking season: Late
    • Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile
    • Flesh colour: Golden / Yellow
  • Garden Lady

    Garden Lady peach trees
    Garden Lady is a slow-growing dwarf peach variety, ideal for pot culture.
    • Picking season: Early
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
    • Flesh colour: Golden / Yellow
  • Gorgeous

    Gorgeous is a yellow-fleshed peach, well adapted to the English climate.
    • Picking season: Mid
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
    • Flesh colour: Golden / Yellow
  • Hale's Early

    Hale's Early peach trees
    Hale's Early is an American peach variety, but with a good track record of being productive in the UK climate.
    • Picking season: Early
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
    • Flesh colour: Golden / Yellow
  • Peregrine

    Peregrine peach trees
    Peregrine is the best flavoured white-flesh peach for the UK climate.
    • Picking season: Mid
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
    • Flesh colour: White
    • Awards: RHS AGM (former)
  • Redhaven

    Redhaven peach trees
    Red Haven is a yellow-fleshed peach, popular because it has some resistance to peach-leaf curl.
    • Picking season: Mid
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
    • Flesh colour: Golden / Yellow
  • Rochester

    Rochester peach trees
    An excellent yellow-fleshed peach, well-suited to the UK climate.
    • Picking season: Mid
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile
    • Flesh colour: Golden / Yellow
    • Awards: RHS AGM (former)
  • Saturn

    Saturn peach trees
    Saturn is a distinctive flat peach also known as a donut peach or Chinese peach.
    • Self-fertility: Self-fertile


How to choose Peach trees

Peaches are a luxurious fruit originating in the Far East and now grown throughout warm temperate regions. Peach trees prefer a continental climate, especially warm or hot summers.

Peach trees can be grown successfully in the UK. However if you want to be reasonably sure of success the best method is to grow as a fan on a south-facing wall, or in a patio container which can be moved indoors (to an unheated room or conservatory) during winter, or - ideally - under permanent cover in a greenhouse or polytunnel.

Peach-leaf curl is a serious fungal disease of peaches (and nectarines). It is transmitted by fungal spores which are active during late-winter / early-spring and are carried in splashes of rain drops. The infection causes the leaves to curl and shrivel (often taking on a dull red tinge at the same time). Although the tree will often produce a second flush of leaves later in the spring, it will probably not produce any fruit. Fortunately peach leaf curl can be readily avoided by covering wall-trained trees over winter and early spring with a frost fleece or similar.

Peach trees grown in patio containers can also be protected simply by keeping them indoors over the winter. If you are growing your peach trees in a greenhouse or polytunnel then you will be able to avoid it altogether.

Fungal and bacterial infections in peaches are often the result of over-watering, particularly if the tree is in a greenhouse where airflow might be restricted.

All peaches are self-fertile - but that doesn't mean they don't need pollinating, it just means you don't need another peach tree nearby to cross-pollinate with. Pollen must still be taken from one flower to the other and since peaches flower very early in the season you can't always rely on pollinating insects to be out and about. If in doubt, you can hand-pollinate - here's an article on the my tiny plot blog showing you how.

Whilst it is generally advisable to keep pruning of all stone fruit to a minimum, and if possible only prune in early spring, nevertheless regular pruning is quite important with peaches. The main objective is to remove older wood and leave younger shoots - this is because peaches (and nectarines) fruit primarily on 1-year shoots (i.e. the shoots which grew the previous summer).

If your peach tree sets a good crop in the spring then it is important to thin the fruitlets, otherwise you will end up with lots of small peaches with little flavour. It is worth being ruthless with the thinning because the flavour of home-grown peaches eaten straight from the tree is worth a bit of work!