First of all, if you’re thinking: will a peach tree thrive in Northern Virginia? The answer is yes. There are so many fruit trees that grow here–apples, pears, etc.–and of course, peach. I opted for a peach tree because I have personally had one before at my rental townhouse a couple of years ago. I knew we would definitely be planting a tree or two {or three} once we moved in, so naturally I went with a fruit tree first.

Locate the best place in your yard with at least 6+ hours of direct sunlight per day. I waited until about 11:30am / Noon-ish to see how long the sun stayed on this side of the yard. I poked a stick in as a marker. {Please be careful digging as they are electric cables in the ground; speaking from experience. Thankfully, I saw mine in time to shift the location just a few inches away.}

My little helper doing more playing than helping.

Honestly this was a lot harder than I thought. The soil / ground is still a bit dry from the winter, but I made some progress.

As I dug I would from time to time place the potted tree into the hole to make sure I have the right circumference and depth.

Finally a hold wide and deep enough to fit our Peachy Peach tree!

It took me a while to get the tree out of the planter…had to wiggle it a few times, but finally came out and I just ran my fingers through the root ball to loosen up the roots a little bit. I would say don’t be afraid to disturb the root ball {it will not kill the tree}, instead it will allow it to root into the ground. I gave it a good drink of water {this is ESSENTIAL – it needs 5 gallons!}. Tip: create a dike around the base to prevent water runoff. Then place mulch around the base to protect it from hot summer days and provide moisture retention throughout the summer. And that was pretty much it.

I just love the beautiful little flowers on the tree. It kind of reminds me of Cherry Blossom trees.
Here’s a mini {very short video I shot on my phone just for fun!}