the recent 18 inches of heavy wet snow that we got in 10 short hours wreaked utter havoc on my fruit trees. To back up a little....We moved into a house that had Peach, Pear, Cherry and Apple trees in one corner of the yard, and I was so excited to learn how to care for fruit trees and looked forward to all the fresh fruit. So before I even got a chance the snow came...and it broke lots of limbs and branches off.
Advice on if they can be saved and what I have to do to save them?
We can only grow cacti so I'm not a good person to answer this. =) But if you don't get any responses on here, check with Lowe's or Home Depot since they will know what to do in your area. Good luck!
If it is just broken branches, and not the main trunk, you should be able to save them. People do prune fruit trees so that they can reach the fruit more easily or to keep from forming weak branches that break under the weight of fruit. You would need to cut off the broken branches and maybe seal the cuts to prevent bugs from getting in. It is best to do the pruning while the tree is still dormant, before it has bloomed. If you pay someone else to do it, make sure they have experience with fruit trees.
About 12 years ago, I planted an apricot, 2 plums, and 2 peaches. The apricot and one plum died last year, without making a single good fruit. One peach blooms early, so we don't get fruit if there's a late freeze that year.
It's worth a try. Visit a local nursery, maybe call a few and get a feel if someone there has some knowledge in pruning to advise you. Then prune them the best you can, cover any of them up with the special tree paint stuff and see what happens. If you wnat to and have the resources you can research and find a tree specialist to do this but this can be expensive. W
e have a peach tree that we inherited that is now just sort of looking like a tree, not a bush. If left alone, it will have one branch with gobs of fruit on it which breaks I think the previous owners let this pattern occur over and over again. After the first year we figured that out and have been trying since to prune it and cull the fruit so it will eventually be an atractive tree. No matter it's bizarre shape, it still makes fruit.
Just prune off the broken branches. You want to do this before it is too warm and the sap starts flowing through the tree...so its looking like now. :). If trunks are split, we have actually put them back together and given them a 'splint' (boards and duct tape will do). Sometimes it will 'take' and sometimes you will lose part of the tree.
