I have just put in my first (of several, I hope) fruit tree in my backyard, Babcock peach. I would like to try to train the branches in a scaffold type structure, with an open center. For now though, how soon can I make a heading cut on some of these longer branches? Right away?
Secondly, what is the feeling on tree paint for the trunk? I have read white interior latex thinned 50/50 with water will work, there are also spiral vinyl wraps I could use.
Are these measures a good idea for sun burn or sun scald? We are into fall season here.
There are some stubs on the trunk where some side branches appear to have been trimmed away, was hesitant to paint over the stubs, I have read these should be left uncovered.
Thank you for your time

Hi Sunset, I'm still pretty new to fruit trees so I'll just make suggestions. But I'm sure somebody much smarter will come along to answer your question soon.

I planted a dozen fruit trees 2 years ago and I've added several more since then. I think your supposed to prune your trees at the very end of winter just before bud break in the spring, not now. And I highly recommend that you watch a bunch of youtube videos first. For every tree I was pruning I watched the videos about how that apple or peach or plum tree was supposed to be pruned. They'll all similar but some give you more info than others and it helps to understand the process well before you attempt it. I learned a lot. I did the scaffold on most of them but left a few with the main leader.

However....All the videos stressed pruning out dead stuff and to allow more air and light into the center and to stop branches from rubbing. Except for the apple videos. Lots of them stressed that sun had to shine directly on the apple for it to ripen. So I followed their instructions... and all the apples on 3 sides of my Fuji got badly sunburned! I live in super hot Arizona and I guess they weren't talking to me. I will let more branches grow out from now on.

Your peach tree is adorable but you probably should stake it because the trunk is very skinny. Wind can snap it in two pretty quickly. I staked many of my trees until the trunks got thicker.

I live in screaming hot Arizona where it is over 100* most of the summer. So I did paint the trunks a year ago in the spring with interior latex paint mixed with water. I usually have a problem with ants bringing aphids to some of my plants so I planted tansy around all of them. It is supposed to repel ants. It didn't grow very big though. None of the trees got sun scald last year. This spring the tansy grew to be 3-4' tall and totally shielded the trunks from the sun. Looked much better then white paint. So I didn't paint them again. But... 2 months ago I realized that most of the tansy plants had flopped over and exposed the tree trunks. But still, none of them got sun scald this year either. Go figure. But it didn't hurt anything to paint them. If I do it again I will probably use prettier pastel colors! And all those branches that you said were previously cut off have already scabbed over well so you can paint right over them if you want to. They're not fresh cuts.

So far, my peach trees are doing well. And this spring I planted Mexican sunflowers around one of my peach trees and they didn't flop over. They were much prettier. And the peaches were terrific this year, fresh, frozen and dehydrated. Hope this helps. Happy gardening.
Debbie

If you want advice from the son of an orchardist, I'll give you what my dad gave me.
Leave it alone for now. You can feed it with some all-purpose fertilizer if you want.
In January (here comes the hard part) stand a yardstick next to the trunk. Cut right above the top of the yardstick. What you have left is the trunk and maybe one branch. If the branch you have is about a foot below the top bud you can leave it on. If it's closer, prune to that branch. You now have a trunk and uppermost scaffold branch.
As soon as new growth starts begin feeding on a schedule of your choosing. Many sources recommend no fertilizer for the first year or two. I recommend feeding the crap out of it to get the biggest tree you can in the shortest time possible. But I'm a pig.
For some other excellent advice check out Dave Wilson Nursery. They grow a huge assortment of fruit trees here in California and have great videos.

I put a yardstick against the two trees I have so far. Both trees have what I thought were potential scaffold branches, but when I measure them they are a little high.
The peach (narrow tree) has nothing at or below 36 inches, that tree would become a whip.
The nectarine (bushier tree) has one branch right at 36, the others are up higher. On each tree I have some 'spreaders' to help angle the branches away from the trunk.
So, for the nectarine I would head off the trunk just above the current 36-inch branch. As mentioned that would be the higher scaffold branch, presumably the growth buds below would form new, lower branches.
For the peach there are branches several inches higher that are in sort of a goblet shape already. If I cut the trunk at 36, I would lose the whole top, wouldn't I be losing a year's growth waiting for new branches to grow?
I haven't had fruit trees before and would like to do it right. It just seems like cutting back the branches above the yardstick would put these trees back to first grade.
Will the current 'scaffold' branches work even if they are higher?

Watched a couple of the Dave Wilson videos, this guy Spellman is pretty ruthless with pruning, he cuts whips down to about knee high. He's not afraid to cut way down. Looks like he mainly does bare root planting.
I guess when I bought these trees the better-shaped ones with low branches were already gone, both of mine have pretty high growth.

More than likely all of the trees had tall trunks, it's just the way they sell them. Most people treat fruit trees like ornamental trees with branches starting 5-6' above the ground. Makes it hard to pick the fruit, though.
Yes, when you cut them back as hard as that you lose about a year in production. What you end up with, however, is a tree that is MUCH easier to harvest from. You should be able to reach all of the ripe fruit without using a ladder or fruit picker. Just reach out and pluck the ripe ones!
Yes, for the nectarine cut above that branch at 36" and then cut THAT branch to 2-3' long. You will get several lower branches next summer. Pick 2, or at most 3, that are spaced about a foot apart vertically and evenly around the trunk. These will be your scaffold branches that all other branches start from. Always prune to a bud or branch pointing away from the center of the tree.
What you DON'T want are scaffold branches that originate from the same point on the trunk vertically. That is a very weak attachment and can split apart with the weight of a good crop of fruit.
We have some trees that I've pruned this way at work. I'll get some pics and post them next week to show the basic plan.

Having the fruit low is also great if you need to spray for fungus or bugs.

These branches got started a little closer together than ideal, but it gives the basic idea. Each one points mostly away from the others and the side branches fill in in-between. The lowest branch is about 15" from the ground. The 'gap' in the front is due to the proximity of a major sidewalk to allow foot traffic.

Hope this helps. Any other questions just ask.