Peach tree is a small deciduous tree. When growing naturally, it is not easy to form a central trunk because of the obvious advantages of the top, and it is often an open tree. Under cultivation conditions, it is often cup-shaped or naturally light-loving, so as to adapt to its light-loving genetic characteristics. The height of a tree is generally 4 ~ 5 meters.

Peach trees have strong germination and branching ability. In the growth cycle, it has the characteristics of multiple growth, which can grow 2 ~ 3 times and vigorous young trees can grow 4 times. Therefore, this secondary branch or tertiary branch can be used to accelerate the formation of crown. Because of its large annual growth, early maturity and fast flowering, peach trees are easy to obtain early high yield.

Peach trees like sunshine. Under natural conditions, centers have no central leadership, but they are still open trees. Therefore, when modeling under cultivation conditions, we should also adopt single-layer trees with low crown and good light reception, such as cup-shaped trees and happy trees. Naturally growing peach trees have dense branches, poor illumination, small fruiting area and low yield. It can be seen from the production that peach trees that are not pruned before 5 years old may have good results because of their small crown, few branches and good ventilation and light transmission. However, after 6 years, the crown gradually increases, the number of branches increases, the ventilation and light transmission are poor, and the output will decrease year by year. However, the yield of peach trees with reasonable pruning and good tree structure is increasing year by year, and the quality is high and stable.

After peach trees are planted, they generally begin to bear fruit in 2-3 years, and enter the full fruit period in 5-6 years. After 20 years, the tree vigor and yield decrease. The longevity of peach trees is often related to varieties, rootstocks, soil, climate and cultivation and management conditions. In areas with high groundwater level and poor soil, peach trees age rapidly, and the effective production life is often less than 15 years. Peach trees in Mengzi and other places in Yunnan generally begin to age after 50 years, and 70-year-old trees still have considerable output.

Pruning of peach trees is to form a high-yield tree structure through artificial measures on the basis of mastering its growth and fruiting habits, so as to maintain moderate growth of branches, symmetry of crown and coordination of growth and fruiting, so as to obtain early fruit, high yield, high quality and stable yield.

Peach trees have the following habits related to shaping and pruning.

First, the dryness is weak and the top advantage is not obvious. Under normal circumstances, each variety in the northern variety group has a relatively upright tree posture, and the opening angle of the main branches is small. The tree shape of each variety in the southern variety group is relatively open, and the opening angle of the main branches is also relatively large. There are great differences in germination rate, branching ability and opening angle of main branches among different varieties.

Peach tree is a kind of tree that likes light. Under the condition of dense branches and poor light, the branches in the crown grow weakly, flowering is difficult, fruit yield is low. Therefore, the shape of peach trees should not violate its light-loving characteristics, and choose a cup-shaped or naturally gratifying shape with a central opening.

The second is vigorous development. The annual growth of young branches is large, and the growth of a single branch can be as long as 1.5 ~ 2.0 meters, and the thickness can reach 2 ~ 3 cm. In a growing season, new buds can germinate 2 ~ 4 times. Therefore, compared with other fruit trees, peach trees need to be drained or cored in time to prevent the crown from being too dense to affect the light. Different branches of peach trees have different pruning methods. For long branches, if properly controlled and utilized, they can be cultivated into main branches or fruiting branches; The developing branches have more leaf buds and fewer flower buds, which can be used to update the fruiting branches. The fruiting branches of peach trees can be divided into five types: clustered fruiting branches, long fruiting branches, medium fruiting branches, short fruiting branches and bouquets. Different pruning measures should be taken according to their respective growth and fruiting characteristics.

The buds of peach trees are precocious, so attention should be paid to using this feature when pruning to accelerate the formation and bear fruit early.

Thirdly, the peach branches have short life span, strong self-thinning ability, and the inner cavity is easy to be exposed, and the produced part is easy to move outward. According to these characteristics, attention should be paid to updating pruning methods to maintain and restore the growth and fruiting ability of fruiting branches, and at the same time, attention should be paid to protecting and utilizing latent buds to promote the growth of branches to update.