It’s time to start thinking about planting fruit trees.
Georgians
start thinking peaches.
January is usually a good time to put your favorite variety of
peach in the ground. But before you plant, learn about several
great new varieties available for some regions of the state.
In south Georgia, you may plant old standards like ‘Flordaking’
and ‘June Gold.’ Be aware that they have some quality problem.
‘Flordadawn’ is a good choice if you want to be the first on
your
street to offer fruit to your neighbors. ‘Juneprince’ is a very
reliable variety, and you can count on a crop in most years. Its
attractive color and good size make it a nice replacement for
‘Coronet’ in South Georgia.
If you plant ‘Delta,’ a nice sweet peach with good hanging
quality, make sure you to plant it with a pollinizer. The very
pretty ‘Suncoast’ nectarine or ‘White Robin,’ a nice white
fleshed peach, are good choices.
The best late-fruiting variety in south Georgia is ‘Suwannee.’ A
good nectarine is ‘Sunfire.’
Next year look for a wonderful new variety named ‘Gulfprince.’
It
has beautiful color, size, flavor, and will hang on the tree
longer than most other varieties available for that region.
Generally order your trees on the Nemaguard rootstock.
Middle Georgians can choose from several new varieties.
‘Springprince’ is the earliest producer. ‘Rubyprince,’‘June
princess nectarine,’‘Southern Pearl,’ ‘Sureprince’ and
‘Blazeprince’ all are ready for harvest in June.
For late season fruite, select ‘Autumnprince.”
North Georgia can reliably select from some older attractive
varieties such as ‘Redhaven’ (late June), or ‘Cresthaven'(late
July) and a couple of fairly new varieties, ‘Encore’ and
‘Bounty.’ These trees should be ordered on either Halford or
Lovell rootstock.
In mid-July you can harvest ‘Bounty,’ a very red peach, that
requires less thinning than other varieties and has a nice size
and shape.
‘Encore’ fruit, available in early August in north Georgia,
isn’t
the prettiest peach you’ll find, but has good size, flavor and
yield. Its higher bud hardiness makes it a good selection for
the
northern parts of Georgia where late frosts can be a problem.
You can order trees for $4 to $6 per tree. Here are several
nurseries that supply trees for our area:
Cumberland Valley Nursery (800)492-0022)
HollyDale Nursery (800)222-302
Vaughn Nursery (931)934-2715
Reserve your trees as soon as possible for January delivery.
When your trees arrive, keep them in a cool area out of the sun
(a basement or outdoor storage room will be best) surrounded in
plastic until you can plant them.
For planting advice, contact your local county extension agent
for the bulletin Home Garden Peaches and Nectarines. It not only
describes the best planting procedures, but also instructs on
tree maintenance, training and pruning.
