When to plant Peaches
Calendar windows
Dates shift with your latitude — they are calculated from your local last-spring-frost date, not from a fixed calendar.
At a glance
Survives a light frost, not a hard freeze.
Practical notes
Fan-train it against a warm south wall and keep the rain off the buds from January to May — dry foliage is the only reliable defence against peach leaf curl. Thin fruit to a hand’s width apart.
Knowing when to pick
Ready when the flesh softens along the suture and the fruit smells of peach a step away. It should detach with a gentle upward twist.
Storing the crop
Two or three days at room temperature. Cold storage makes them mealy, so freeze or bottle any surplus instead.
Crop rotation
Permanent planting: never replant a rose-family plant straight into its own old site.
Grows well with
Keep apart from
Watch for
Full guide: peaches diseases and pests (4) → with spread routes, compost verdicts and the prevention this list justifies.