What is the sweetest, juciest peach tree for growing in the Pacific Northwest? I am planning to espalier it against a south-facing wall (lots of room).
There isn't too many choices for the PNW. According to Western Garden only Frost, New Haven, Early Elberta, Honey Babe, Q1-8, and Reliance do well here. I have Frost and New Haven and they do well, although they do get peach leaf curl in rainy,cold springs. I don't spray them with copper or lime sulfur, but that is supposed to help.
The owner of Le Coteau nursery in Saanich used to propagate and sell a variety he was calling 'Peking honey', and it's an excellent peach. Not resistant to leaf curl, but a single application of Bordeaux mix takes care of it for me. Don't know if the variety is still available
Thanks for the suggestions! Since our land is gently sloping, but somehow still incredibly water-logged, my husband wants to dig down and put a drainage pipe along the south side of the building, so we are planning to use landscaping ties to create a raised bed for the peach tree, on top of the pipe and gravel. Will this work? How wide & deep should the raised bed be?
I wouldn't use treated landscape ties where you are growing edibles. Too many nasty chemicals that the plant roots will take up. Use cedar if you use wood. There are many other better options for retaining walls than wood which will rot eventually. Peaches like good drainage, so your drain pipe will work, although with a raised bed you will have good drainage regardless. In regards to size, the bigger the better. The smallest I would go would be 6x6 feet or 8x4 feet, but they would survive on less.
