Wound on peach tree

by Sue
(Bear Creek, NC)

Help! I noticed a gash at the bottom of the trunk of my peach tree. It looks like ants are inside it now and the peaches have stopped growing. Some are falling off. You can get a gel like substance from the wound. Can i save my beloved tree? Zone 7.

Comments for Wound on peach tree

Click here to add your own comments

Jun 02, 2021

Sap
by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

The gel like substance is sap, and this illustrates perfectly why stone fruits are never pruned in springtime, like other fruit trees. The bleeding can be hard to stop, and, as you've discovered, the ants find it.

I don't know if you'll be able to save your tree. This is a fairly substantial wound, and goes almost halfway around the tree.

This means that the cambium layer, which transports nutrients from the roots to the leaves and vice versa has been cut off.

There is probably no way to fix this. It could heal itself in time.

It's no doubt why the fruit has stopped growing. To relieve the stress on the tree, the only solution may be to remove all the fruit. If the tree recovers it will fruit again next year. If it doesn't recover, it won't be able to ripen the fruit anyway.

I don't know what would have caused this kind of damage, but it's possibly a ride on lawnmower, hitting the tree. If this is a possibility, a tree guard might prevent future damage from occurring.

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Ask the Horticulturist.