In this month’s Food Gardening Magazine, you get everything you need to know about planting peach trees—peaches, the delicious summer fruit to complement all your food-gardening efforts. And planting and harvesting peaches is not as difficult as you might think—you can even grow them in containers! If you want everything you need to know about growing and harvesting peaches, this Gardening Guide is for you!

You get all the tips for growing peaches, special techniques, and advice about how to start and maintain an awesome peach orchard. And we cover growing peach trees for beginners and skilled gardeners alike.

Growing peach trees allows you to choose varieties you like and to even grow peaches that aren’t sturdy enough to be transportable to supermarkets by commercial growers. Growing peach trees also allows you to avoid the pesticide residue that is commonly found in store-bought peaches.

When you read this Gardening Guide on peaches, you get specific advice about particular peach-tree varieties—from the best peach tree varieties for your geographic area to characteristics and features of each variety. Best type of peach tree and peach-tree care are covered in great detail for you, so that choosing which variety to plant is an easier decision for you to make. You’ll harvest the most delicious peaches from any peach tree you plant in your garden when you follow all of this advice.

This Gardening Guide about peaches is your #1 guide for being the best peach gardener you can be! You should refer to this Gardening Guide whenever you have questions about the best way to grow peaches—from planning to planting and from maintaining and nurturing to harvesting and reaping the rewards in your kitchen. With this Gardening Guide, you’ll have everything about taking care of peach trees in your garden!

First, in this Gardening Guide, you get a complete Introduction to Peaches—including the history and background of this juicy summer fruit. Did you know that peach trees are native to China? Or that its Latin name—prunus persica—literally means “Persian plum?” And that peaches are related to cherries, apricots, almonds, and plums?

Get all the details about the history and background of peaches when you read this Gardening Guide’s introduction now.

Then, you get Feature Articles about Peaches that include:

• Types of Peaches—did you know that there are three main types of peaches and more than 2,000 varieties? Find out which type of peach is the easiest for removing the flesh from the peach pit inside—and which type is best for snacking, baking, or canning. This article will help you decide which types of peach trees are best for you to grow.
• Growing Peaches from Seeds, Trees, or Cuttings—how easy is it to grow peaches from seeds? Can you grow a peach tree from a peach pit? What type of climate is best for starting and nurturing your peach trees? Or is it best for you to try growing peach trees from cuttings? Find out now in this article.
• Growing Peaches in Open Land or Containers—did you know that dwarf peach trees are ideal for container growing? And what if you have enough open land for growing peach trees—what number-one consideration should decide exactly where to grow your peach trees? Learn about why you shouldn’t plant a peach tree where another peach tree recently grew. Get all the details in this article now.
• Preparing Your Soil and Getting Ready to Plant—what pH level is best for your soil when growing peach trees? Why should you let adjusted soil sit for months before using it to plant your peach trees? Learn why you should not fertilize your newly planted peach trees. And what are the best peach-tree watering techniques, both when first planted and as your peach trees grow? There’s a big difference, so find out now.
• Ongoing Peach Tree Care—when your peach trees are first planted, what is the most important peach-tree care task that many gardeners often skip? Skipping this during the first few years can delay or destroy your potential crop. Learn about the importance of pruning peach trees and thinning the fruit on your peach trees. Get details and advice about all of the most important peach-tree care techniques now.
• Prepare for Diseases and Pests—do you know about the risk of brown rot on your peach trees? Or what to do about brown rot? How about powdery mildew or leaf curl that can attack your peach trees? And then there is the serious danger to peach trees from Japanese beetles. Find out what to do to prevent diseases and pests in the first place—and how to treat peach trees that may have become affected.
• Harvesting Your Peaches—what are the most reliable telltale signs that it’s picking-peaches time? What should you do if you accidentally pick peaches that aren’t quite ripe yet? Get all the advice and tips now in this article.
• Essential Tools and Equipment for Growing Peaches—get the full list of essential gardening tools and equipment for growing peaches … and for almost all of your gardening needs.

Next, this premium Gardening Guide highlights nine popular peach varieties in the Plant Profiles section, to help you choose the varieties you might want to try—this is just a sampling of the many peach varieties available, but this is a good guide for selecting the varieties of peaches that are best for your growing conditions and your cooking needs:

• Red Haven Peaches
• Reliance Peaches
• Harmony/Canadian Harmony Peaches
• Hale Haven Peaches
• O’Henry Peaches
• Pix-Zee Peaches
• Honey Babe Peaches
• Nectar Peaches
• Galaxy Peaches

And all your peach-gardening efforts are made more satisfying when you have quick and easy-to-make recipes, to ensure your harvest is enjoyed by everyone you serve at your home—or by everyone you gift a bag of peaches to, because your harvest is robust! Food Gardening Network is all about providing quick-and-easy recipes for making delicious dishes. Try these recipes and enjoy your peach harvest in the most satisfying ways:

• Golden Peach Salsa
• Peach Cobbler
• Roasted Beet, Peach, and Goat Cheese Salad
• Spiced Blackberry and Peach Compote
• Easy Peach Pie
• Georgia Peach Pound Cake

Next, you’ll learn all about the health benefits of peaches with Nutrition Facts about Peaches and Home Remedies & Health Benefits of Peaches. Learn about all the wonderful and beneficial attributes of peaches—and how you can use peaches to boost your overall health.

And to be sure you have everything you need to grow peach trees, we’ve included a Resources about Peaches section—so that you can easily find additional tools and information about peaches … and all sorts of other general gardening and cooking resources.

Finally, our Glossary section gives you the explanation of key peach-growing terms and concepts—so, you’re never in the dark or confused about growing peaches or harvesting peaches.

Check out this premium Gardening Guide now—Perfect Peaches: How to Grow this Sweet Summer Delight—and you’ll really learn everything you need to know about peaches!

Mary Van Doren, Norann Oleson, Victoria Arnold, and Samantha Pulcherz contributed to the creation of this Gardening Guide.