Learn which plants thrive in your Hardiness Zone with our new interactive map! Transplant pear trees in late winter while they are still dormant. For flower buds to develop, pear trees require dormancy and a period of winter chill. Climate, soil fertility, pruning and the location of pear tree plantings are also factors in blooming and fruit set. Expect a newly planted pear tree to bear fruit four to six years after planting. The entire pear tree can fall over in some cases, especially in high winds!
For more information, check out this article on fruit trees from the Penn State University Extension.
The amount of fruit you get from your pear tree depends on lots of environmental conditions. It also depends on the variety you planted. For European varieties, a pear tree will produce bushels of fruit, and a dwarf tree will produce bushels of fruit.
Examples of European pear varieties include Anjou, Bartlett, and Colette. For Asian varieties, a pear tree will produce bushels of fruit, and a dwarf tree will produce bushels of fruit. Examples of Asian pear varieties include Hosui, Kosui, and Shinseiki. A bushel of pears weighs about 50 pounds. That means that most healthy trees will produce at least 50 pounds of fruit per year. You could get up to pounds of fruit from a dwarf pear tree and up to pounds of fruit from a very productive full-size pear tree!
For more information, check out this article on fruit tree yields on the Stark Brothers website. Pear trees can live to be 50 years old or more, ensuring that you get many good years of harvests if you care for them properly. When selecting a pear tree, make sure that you choose one that can be grown in your climate!
If you only want to buy one tree and still get fruit, check out my article on self-pollinating pear trees. In most cases, you will need at least two pear trees, each of a different variety, to produce fruit. This is because most pear tree varieties are not self-pollinating also called self-unfruitful. Thus, they cannot produce fruit from their own pollen.
It is important to remember that two pear trees of same variety cannot pollinate each other. Therefore, if you want fruit from your trees, you will need at least 2 different varieties for successful cross pollination to occur. There are exceptions, of course, including the Colette Everbearing Pear mentioned above , along with some others, available the Stark Brothers website.
Of course, the amount of care you give your pear trees will have a huge impact on the amount of fruit that they produce. Some important factors that can affect fruit yield include temperature, watering, fertilizing, and pruning. Temperature is tricky, since pear trees will not be able to survive prolonged, excessive cold. Also, a late spring frost has the potential to kill all of the buds or flowers and prevent the tree from growing any pears that year.
On the other hand, mild winters are another scenario that may prevent your pear tree from producing. Most fruit trees, including pear trees, need a certain number of chilling hours in the winter. A chilling hour is simply an hour when the tree is exposed to a temperature from 32 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit 0 to 7 degrees Celsius. Most pear trees need to chilling hours each winter, in order to break dormancy so they can produce flowers and fruit.
However, there are some low-chill pear trees that only require chilling hours. If the tree flowers too early during a mild winter, a late spring frost can kill all of the flowers and destroy any chance of a pear harvest that year. Before purchasing pear trees online, make sure that your climate gets enough chilling hours in the winter to produce fruit, while also staying warm enough to keep the tree alive.
For more information, check out this article on chilling hours from the University of California. When you water your pear trees, make sure to give them deep, infrequent waterings. This will stimulate the root system to grow deeper and more extensive, rather than remaining shallow and hovering near the surface of the soil. For more information, check out this article on growing pears from the University of Minnesota Extension.
The stake can be removed after a few years. The only nutrient that can be limiting for plant growth in gardens is nitrogen. If trees are growing between 18 and 24 inches in new growth each year, then there is plenty of nitrogen in the soil.
You can always apply compost as a mulch around the tree base if tree growth begins to slow down. It is always beneficial to keep a inch layer of mulch around the base of your fruit trees. This helps moderate the soil temperature and retain moisture in the soil.
Mulch also helps prevent weeds and grasses from growing around the base of the tree. Just remember, keep mulch a few inches from the trunk to prevent trunk rots and damage from rodents.
Pull weeds regularly and cut away any root suckers that may sprout around the base of the tree. Again, a few inches of mulch will help reduce the time you spend weeding around your fruit trees. If you plant a larger tree, remove any limbs originating from the base of the tree and any branches lower than 24 inches.
If there are 2 or more branches competing to be the leader , choose one and remove the others. Prune an unfeathered tree one with no strong branches to about 30 inches tall, just above a bud.
Make this cut at a degree angle. For a feathered tree one with several branches , prune out any branches that are competing with the leader, that look weak, or that grow at an odd angle. Leave 2 to 3 strong, well-spaced branches. If your tree has numerous branches, select 4 or 5 scaffold branches from those that remain, pruning out any other branches that are growing just above or just below scaffolds. The scaffold branches are the main branches that form the shape of the tree.
They should have wide angles, at least 60 degrees relative to the trunk. If you have purchased a small tree with little or no branches, prune the trunk to about 30 inches above the ground. This will cause branching, resulting in scaffold branch options the following year.
If the tree has a few small branches, choose 2 or 3 sturdy ones at least 18 inches from the ground to keep as scaffolds and remove all others. Pruning pear trees is very similar to pruning apple trees.
Mainly, you want to prune a tree to have well-spaced branches and a balanced appearance, while eliminating problem branches those that are broken, diseased or dead. Fruit trees should be pruned every year in late winter or early spring, after the coldest weather is past and before growth begins.
Prune minimally, especially with young trees, as excessive pruning will delay or reduce fruiting and create too much leafy growth. Most pear trees are pruned and trained to allow a central, main stem, or leader, be the foundation of the tree off of which side branches, or scaffolds grow.
The tree ends up with a conical or pyramid form. This is called the central leader pruning method and it makes for a compact, balanced, easily managed tree with fruit that has maximum access to sunlight and air circulation. Once the first set of scaffold branches has been selected, select a second set above it.
Scaffold branches should be spaced about 12 inches apart. Always keep the pyramid shape in mind when pruning. Have you moved into a house that has an old, overgrown pear tree? Are the branches overlapping and going every which way? Don't lose hope. This tree is probably fine, it just needs a little work to get it back in shape and productive again.
Reclaiming a mature pear tree that has been neglected for several years can be a challenge, and will take a few years of pruning to make the tree productive again. Here are a few guidelines for renovating a neglected tree:. The most common mistake novice pear growers make is to let the fruit ripen on the tree. Fruit that ripens on the tree ends up gritty and unpleasant. Instead, fruit should be picked at a mature stage and then allowed to ripen indoors. To harvest a pear , gently take the fruit in the palm of your hand and lift and twist in a single motion.
Or use one hand to hold the spur and the other hand to lift and twist the fruit. Don't pull or yank the fruit , which may damage the small woody spur to which the stem of the fruit is attached, taking with it next year's flower buds. Quickly refrigerate harvested fruit in perforated plastic bags or a loosely covered container. This will help increase humidity levels around the fruit. To fully ripen the fruit , remove it from the refrigerator and allow it to sit at room temperature for a few days.
When the fruit turns a more golden color and the flesh at the stem end yields to thumb pressure, the fruit is ready to eat. The exception to these harvest guidelines is Summercrisp, which should be picked when still green with a red blush, and should not be ripened before eating. Tree guards or tree wraps can help prevent winter injury, or sunscald, to young trees. The white material reflects sunlight from the trunk, which helps prevent it from heating up on a cold, sunny winter day.
If the bark temperature gets above freezing, water in the tissues under the bark becomes liquid and begins to flow through the cells. When the sun goes down or behind a cloud, the liquid water suddenly freezes, damaging the cells and sometimes killing the tissue on one side of the trunk.
Tree guards can be removed once the bark becomes thick and scaly, after about 6 to 8 years. In the meantime, loosen the guard periodically to allow the tree to expand. In other areas of the U. Because these trees are not common in Minnesota, insect problems are usually not severe for home gardeners. As more people add pears to their gardens, this may change.
But for now, promptly removing and destroying fallen fruit and leaves, and pruning to promote good airflow through the tree are all that is normally needed to grow a satisfying crop in most years. Too much nitrogen fertilizer, including compost, can cause fast new growth that is very susceptible to fireblight.
To minimize fireblight, don't over fertilize and don't let young shoots grow more than three feet in varieties of susceptible pears. Water sprouts or suckers should be removed promptly on susceptible variety. Do not prune while the tree is in bloom and up to two weeks after blooming. Prune diseased shoots immediately if your pear tree is exhibiting symptoms of fireblight. When pruning a diseased shoot, cut at least 6 inches below where you see discolored bark.
After each cut, disinfect pruning tools in a mixture of 1 part water to 3 parts denatured alcohol, or a mixture of 1 part chlorine bleach to 9 parts water; you can also use an anti-bacterial cleaner such as Lysol or Listerine. Discard or destroy diseased shoots. This bacterial disease can spread quickly and damage or even kill trees. But, the observant gardener can keep this problem from getting out of hand.
The best solution is to choose pear varieties with some resistance to the disease. Bacteria like warm, humid environments, so keep trees pruned and the tree canopy open to allow air to reach all leaves so they dry quickly after rain.
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