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Are you confused about pruning fruit trees? It's really not that hard, but let's start with the easiest, most forgiving of all the fruit trees. Pear trees are generally easy to grow and maintain. This is one type of tree that tends to be self-thinning to save you some work.
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The best time to do major pruning on your pear trees is during the dormant season, before active growth begins in the spring. Generally, it is not recommended to heavily prune pear trees. The more you prune, the greater the chance that fire blight will develop (the leaves and branches will look as if they have been burned by fire), and it delays fruit production. It is generally best to prune pear trees late in the summer. You will stimulate the least amount of re-growth by pruning after the trees have finished growing for the year and have hardened their wood. If you live in an area where there's a chance for winter damage, wait to prune until late winter. Give your pear trees the proper growing environment. Then maintain a regular pruning schedule to enhance the best possible fruit production.
Set a three-year plan to get your pear trees into the shape and size you want. Start with a plan for your pruning project - envision how you want the trees to look. The first year remove limbs that are diseased, damaged, upright, crossing and crowded. Suckers need to be removed as soon as you notice them to avoid them turning into woody, weak wood. The next year, thin out the tree some more and bring down some of the height. The third year, thin out the trees some more and cut down to the desired height.
Always remove pruned branches from the area of your other trees. Burning the branches is a great way to prevent the spread of disease and infestation.
Pear trees bloom and bear fruit on the sharp, short spurs that grow between its branches. Thin the spurs regularly. Older spurs should be removed occasionally to be replaced by more vigorous young ones. If you end up with too many small fruits set in one year, thin them out to let the remaining fruit grow large and not have to compete for nutrients.
You can avoid ending up with too much fruit that goes to waste by thinning the fruit on the branches after it has set. Hand thin the fruits to leave at least 5 inches between the fruit. This will reduce your harvest and increase the health of the remaining fruit. It is especially a good idea to thin fruit on the high, hard-to-reach branches.
Do check with your local extension office about the best choices of varieties of fruit trees that will do well in your area. There a many new varieties of both pear and apple trees that have been cultivated to be very resistant to fire blight.
FIRE BLIGHT:
This is one disease that can easily severely damage and or kill your fruit trees.
The leaves and twigs of the trees get the disease from insects who enter the flowers during springtime. The best way to prevent the disease is by choosing a resistant variety. The insects get it by gathering pollen from nearby cedar trees. It also helps to keep the tree plenty moist, especially during blossom time and when the fruit is ripening. Using mulch around the base of the tree will help hold in moisture and may also prevent too-early flowering.
Prune your tree lightly. This will avoid producing vigorous new growth that is more susceptible to blight. If your tree has already been hit by fire blight, you will need to prune out the affected shoots at least several inches below the damaged area. Be sure to sterilize your clippers in a chlorine solution between cuts and destroy the cuttings by burying or burning them. If your tree is badly damaged, it may need to be replaced.
Please see the following site for drawings of proper pruning and additional information on the subject.
http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC1351.htm CREDITS: Personal hands on experience. Additional information found at public domain sites.
 | Hubby and I have been doing Organic Gardening off and on for over 25 years. Just finishing the Virginia Master Gardening classes at the end of Nov 07. I love talking and teaching gardening to anybody that will listen. |
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Subject: Ixia Viridiaflora
Posted by steve66 (from Olalla, WA) on March 25, 2008 at 6:53 PM:Has anyone got this S. African Ixia to bloom and multiply? I've got questions. ... Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on March 26, 2008 at 5:15 AM: Wrong forum, Steve, we be dealing with Pear trees in here......:) ...
Subject: WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND
Posted by docgipe (from Montoursville, PA) on March 24, 2008 at 8:34 AM:I started both of my boys when they were knee high to Hecter's Pup. Little by little they grew into their own gardening styles. They are both like dad about 99% organic. They started the pear insanity. I followed. Today finding three to five Asians on our properties is common.
I prune the dickens out of them yearly to limit size and production. Each has its own great flavor. The deer clean up the left over drops every fall. I am so appreciative of the best that I have even culled producing trees on two occasions to make room for another possible best Asian in our opinion. The wife and I share pears all over the neighborhood. Strange as easy as they are to grow that few if any friends have planted their own Asian Pears. We have never had fire blight on the Asians.
The only spraying they get is the early season Neem Oil sprays. One early before the spring awakening and another before the buds open. That's all the care they get except for thining which makes larger fruit.
Thanks for this great article. ...
Subject: wish I had a pear tree .....
Posted by Sharran (from Calvert City, KY) on March 19, 2008 at 4:20 PM:Now I wish I had a pear tree.
thank you, Cath. ... Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on March 19, 2008 at 5:43 PM: And you could get a partridge to go with it............grin ... Posted by Indy (from Alexandria, IN) on March 19, 2008 at 8:20 PM: My two pears Moonglow and Starking Delicious have only borne 1 pear in their first 8 years while the one [Honeysweet self pollenizing] I set out at my daughter's bore nicely after about 4 years! ... Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on March 19, 2008 at 8:37 PM: Sounds like you need an additional pollinator to get them bearing. ... Posted by Indy (from Alexandria, IN) on March 19, 2008 at 9:08 PM: Well, last year they got frozen and previous years they have not flowered all that much like the Honeysweet. ... Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on March 19, 2008 at 10:48 PM: I'm not familiar with those particular varieties, so I'm not sure what to tell you. I did a google search and they both need another pear tree to cross pollinate. Are you getting a lot of blossoms on them? ... Posted by Indy (from Alexandria, IN) on March 20, 2008 at 2:33 PM: I have not gotten as many blossoms so far, but the trees are large enough with enough spurs to come through any time now. They are planted fairly near each other plus there is an old Keifer in the area.
The Honeysweet produces about 60 pears.
I took out a "Summer Seckel" that only produced one pear after several years. ... Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on March 20, 2008 at 6:09 PM: I think that's very unusual. You might want to contact your county extension agent and have he/her have a look. I have 1 Seckel (a standard that was suppose to be a semi-dwarf), and 2 dwarf Boscs. They are mature trees, must be 15 year old at least, I'd have to look up my paperwork. We're averaging about 10-12 bushels of pears per tree every year. I regularly add compost around the drip line and keep white clover planted under the trees to increase bee pollination. But you should be getting more blossom than that at this point. They take about 3-4 years to mature, but sounds like yours are, so there's something else going on there that's affecting your production. ... Posted by Indy (from Alexandria, IN) on March 20, 2008 at 6:21 PM: I've seen the old Keifer put out a lot of pears. I have heard the probverb that pears are planted for the next generation.
The two trees seemed to have gotten set back by 2-4-D drift from a field about 50 feet away in 2000. They look healthy nowadays. ... Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on March 20, 2008 at 6:24 PM: Oh my, that's not good. And yes, that very well may be what effecting your production. If you have room and want pears you might want to consider planting a couple more. ... Posted by pajaritomt (from Los Alamos, NM) on March 24, 2008 at 10:19 AM: If you want pears, go to the Raintree Nursery catalog and they have a chart for what pollinates what. Of course, they only list the varieties they sell, but the list might help you determine if you need a pollinator and if so, what kind. Also, try the Seed Savers Exchange Fruit and Nut Inventory, a book. They list every type of fruit tree available at the time they went to press and on the whole tell you what they taste like and in most cases whether they need a pollenator and what cultivars make good pollinators. If you don't want to buy it you might be able to get it at the library. ... Posted by Indy (from Alexandria, IN) on March 24, 2008 at 2:04 PM: As far as the two I set out in the fall of 1999....The Stark catalog lists those two as the best pollenaters for each other. ... Posted by doccat5 (from Fredericksburg, VA) on March 24, 2008 at 6:06 PM: You might also want to do some more research on the effects of the 2-4-D. That very well may have done more damage that was first apparent. ...
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