Bellegarde peach trees

Check pollinators >

• Picking season: Late
• Self-fertility: Partially self-fertile Unusually for a peach, this variety is not full self-fertile.
• Flesh colour: Golden / Yellow

Bellegarde is a traditional late-season yellow-fleshed peach from France, with dark red skin. In English conditions it usually ripens towards the end of September.

Cropping is generally good.

This is a freestone peach - the stone falls cleanly from the flesh.

Bellegarde peach trees for sale

Growing and Training

The vast majority of peaches are self-fertile, but Bellegarde appears to need another (different) peach or nectarine variety nearby for best results.

Bellegarde has a reputation for good disease-resistance by peach standards but is still susceptible to peach-leaf curl, so be sure to protect the tree from infection in late winter / early spring - covering the tree with a fleece is a good method

History

Bellegarde is a traditional French peach, but has been successfully grown in England since the Victorian era. It is also known as Galande.

British-grown trees

Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK. Find out more.

In addition, all our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance. Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS. The scheme aims to improve UK biosecurity by setting standards for all growers and retailers involved in selling plants in the UK. Find out more.

Guaranteed fruit trees

When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden while it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund, subject to some conditions. Find out more.

More about 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!