Can a peach tree that turned into a bush be made back into a tree?

Question

I had a dwarf peach tree in my yard but a dog broke off the main trunk of the tree. I was going to remove the tree but there were several “branches” that grew out from the base of the trunk. I first expected that a new trunk was growing out, but several came out and I’m left with a peach “bush” rather than a tree. I want it to be a tree since I don’t have the heart to kill the thing off. Is there a way to get just one large trunk to grow back?

Answer 1

You could, technically, force it back to tree shape. But to be honest, for the time and effort it would take to train it back to tree shape, you are far better off removing it and replacing it. Not to mention that the tree was also likely grafted, which means that the peach that is growing now is not really the peach you plant. It is suckers from the rootstock of the graft. The rootstock tends to be more resilient but produces inferior fruit.

I would strongly recommend that you replace it and start over.