How to plant and care for Nectarine (Lord Napier)

Prunus persica var. nucipersica

🌳 Tree 🍓 Fruit 🔁 Perennial

Smooth-skinned, white-fleshed, juicy nectarines in August. Best fan-trained on a warm, sunny wall or in a large pot moved under cover in winter.

At a glance: harvest in August.

When to plant and care for it

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Flowers

Harvest

Prune

Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.

On planting day
Plant the Tree
Plant at the same depth it grew in its pot, in a hole twice as wide as the root ball, 4 m along a wall from other trees. Firm and water well.
0–1 days after “Plant the Tree”
Stake and Tie
Drive a short stake in on the windward side and fix it with a soft tree tie. Loosen the tie each spring so it never cuts into the bark.
0–2 days after “Stake and Tie”
Water In Deeply
Soak the root area with a full can, then keep the soil moist (not wet) for the first few weeks.
7–21 days after “Water In Deeply”
Mulch the Base
Spread 5–8 cm of compost or bark mulch in a 1 m circle, keeping it clear of the trunk.

January
Cover Against Peach Leaf Curl
Leaf curl spreads by rain splash from January to May. Fit a clear polythene shelter, open at the sides, over wall-trained or pot-grown trees.
March
Hand-Pollinate the Blossom
It flowers before many bees are about: brush each open flower with a soft paintbrush every few days.
April
Spring Pruning
Prune as the buds break, not in winter. Cut some fruited shoots back to a young replacement shoot.
June
Thin the Fruit
Thin fruitlets to one every 15 cm once they are hazelnut-sized.
Starts from year 2.
August
Pick Nectarines
Pick when the flesh near the stalk gives slightly to gentle pressure.
Starts from year 2.