Collected peach

[Craigg]

I have collected a peach tree that had been growing along the side of the road for a number of years. When I collected the tree a few years back I chose the tree not to train, but rather to ensure that I could get the tree to survive before digging the trees that looked more promising as bonsai. It has grown well since and this year I tried pruning the tree to ensure that I could see the impact on the growth that the tree makes, once again as a trial for the other trees.

In doing so I have seen what looks to be a potentially decent looking triple trunk tree in the future. While I don’t see it becoming a masterpiece, I can see it being a great tree to display when in flower each year. The tree has grown from seed thanks to the local birdlife so I have no concerns regarding graft unions etc. MY question is, how hard can these be cut back? I have seen some previous posts that indicated that dieback after hard pruning is not uncommon. Is there a rough guide as to how much is too much to prune back or is it really a case of suck it and see?

[bonsaibruce]

Howdy, my peaches died from poor root management, repot early into decent soil and watch out for cut worms. Always leave several leaves on any branches you trim. Branches are very stiff and difficult to wire. Clip and grow works ok.
Bruce.