This post may contain affiliate links
This post is sponsored by Eckert’s, but all opinions and love of fuzzy peaches are my own.
Ever since we built our house (way back in 2010) Brandon and I have talked about wanting fruit trees. And while we did plant a few regular trees a couple years ago, we knew it wasn’t enough. So when Eckert’s asked us to share about their garden center, it was pretty much a match made in plant heaven. I mean they are the legit fruit tree experts so obviously we knew we were in good hands!!
First things first, did you even know Eckert’s had a garden center? Well, they do and it’s kind of amazing! They have everything from veggies, herbs, annual and perennial flowers, seeds, bulbs, bushes, and trees!
Pro Tip: Sign up for Eckert’s email list and follow them on Facebook to see all the latest sales and giveaways!
When we started our raised bed garden a few years ago BTR and I pretty much had no idea what we were doing. But we quickly immersed ourselves in all things green and fell in love with it! And we love sharing that with the boys now! Jude helps me water every night with his own little watering can.
Now BTR and I know pretty much nothing about fruit trees, so we were happy to get a quick lesson in peach trees from Angie Eckert when we picked out our tree to bring home!
We learned that peach trees do not need a second tree to pollinate (whereas if you plant an apple tree you would need a second tree for cross-pollination). You also need to trim peach trees to have an open center. It sort of looks like a vase or a V.
Now obviously this isn’t all inclusive, but here are my top three tips for planting a peach tree!
Prep Your Soil – This is such an important part of planting any tree or plant! We have pretty dense clay soil, so Angie recommended adding a bag of top soil and a bag of peat moss to the dirt we dug up in our yard. Also very important when planting a tree, is how big you dig your hole. We knew we wanted to put a six-foot ring around our tree to match the other trees in our yard so we dug a pretty big area. This also helps with the tree roots. We planted our tree at ground level, the same depth as the pot it came in. We also picked a higher area of our yard so it would have good drainage and not sit in water.
Prune Your Tree – Peach trees need to be pruned in a V shape to allow for light penetration within the trees to allow for more fruit buds to develop! You want about three to four main branches with wide angles. We were lucky enough to have Angie prune our tree at Eckert’s before we left so we knew we picked the right branches! She said next year we will probably need to trim back a few of the branches she left. Since there were already some buds on branches she didn’t want to get rid of the fruit this year. So we will definitely have to do some trimming next spring.
Water and Fertilize and Spray Your Tree – This might be the MOST important part of any type of planting, but you have to water your tree! Angie recommended using a root stimulator (picture at the bottom of the post) to help with getting our tree roots established. It can get pretty dry and hot during the summers, so we’ve been trying to do a slow trickle of water on the tree. We read that we should fertilize with a 12-12-12 fertilizer one month after planting, so it’s probably time to do that as well. Next year we will have to spray our tree for bugs and disease, so we will be heading back up to Eckert’s garden center to get all the supplies we need for that! To help with keeping our tree hydrated we installed a ring around the tree, covered it with a weed barrier and then covered that with mulch. Mulch helps insulate the soil to retain water and keep out the weeds. And now it also matches the other tree landscaping in our yard!
We picked a corner of our yard near the play set and I love it because my new bench that BTR built is nearby so I get to see our new tree every time I sit out there while Jude swings! A few weeks ago we had a pretty bad storm with bad hail and we ended up losing a couple of our peach buds. I was SO SAD, but there are still a few left! I’m pretty sure if another storm comes through I’m going to go out there and protect the tree with my whole body because I really want to get some fruit from it this year!!
We still have a lot to learn about peach trees, but I’m so excited to have it planted in our yard now! Angie sent us to this site for more extensive reading about peach trees and their care and it’s been very helpful so far!
We will probably only get a few fruit this year, so we will definitely be picking at Eckert’s in a few weeks when peach season opens! Who am I kidding, no matter how many we get from our tree we’ll still go to Eckert’s to pick, because who doesn’t love riding tractors and eating custard?
Thank you again to Eckert’s for partnering with us and trusting us with a whole tree in the #rotzgarden! Make sure to follow me on Instagram and my IG stores for updates on the tree and the rest of our garden this summer!
Eckert’s on the Web
Eckert’s on Facebook – Twitter – Instagram
Eckert’s Events Calendar
Eckert’s Garden Center
