Fruits and Nuts: How do I correct a poorly begun peach tree?, 1 by permanewbie

permanewbie wrote:
Hello everybody!
I am completely new to this subject. I\'ve researched, but haven\'t found information specific to my problem, so I hope someone hereabouts can help me. I was given a young (2-3 years old I guess) poorly pruned peach tree (pictures attached) in a 2 gallon pot. From what I saw, the roots don\'t seem to be very well developed (far from being root-bound). I planted it with a mixture of the sandy soil it came in, some store-bought garden soil, and some natural fertilizer. It\'s about 10 feet tall, and 12-18 inches above the ground - where I\'m thinking of pruning below the two, narrowly crotched scaffolding branches - the trunk is one inch in diameter. From what I\'ve read and seen, I need to chop it back to a stub to create 3-4 new, better angled scaffolds. My questions are: should I in fact do this, is it ok to do it now in the middle of May, and how risky is it? I am in Ankara, Turkey, which I\'m told has a climate similar to Denver. Thanks in advance for your help!

The 3rd one is a close-up of trunk below the scaffolds