The owners of this nectarine tree thought it was simply a dwarf ornamental until this year when it suddenly covered itself in beautiful and delicious fruit. The tree has been in the ground, planted on a south facing slope, since 2002. This is the first year that it's produced any sizable fruit, so much that the tree's branches needed props to keep them from breaking.
Nectarine and other stone fruit trees react well to heavy pruning, usually in March (put the date on your gardening planner for next year). Pruning produces new fruiting wood. They need lots of sun, well drained soil and periodic deep watering. You don't want the deep roots to dry out, especially during fruit production.
This tree is a dwarf variety which is great because pruning is easy and the trees can produce an abundance of full-sized fruit. Dwarf trees also seem to produce fruit at a younger age, but they are more likely to need support for their heavy branches than regular-sized trees.