Pruning a Pear Tree

April 6th, 2007

Pear Prunings in VaseLast week when I was doing my spring gardening tasks one of the things I did was prune my pear tree. I figured this would be a fine time to review how you are supposed to prune trees.

First of all you are supposed to prune deciduous trees in very early Spring when their buds begin to swell but before the buds break. Then you’ll want to overall create a pleasing form with your tree and either emphasize a central leader (most pear trees use a central leader), or a series of 4 main scaffold branches coming off a short trunk.

You’ll want to prune away dead wood. Any branches that are crossing each other. Branches that grow down, or straight up. Branches that grow out of the main trunk at too wide of an angle, or too narrow of an angle. Finally you’ll want to remove interior growth to promote good airflow. All of thise you do for the tree’s health. Branches too close to the trunk can trap moisture and promote rot, branches too wide of an angle from the trunk can end up weak. Branches that rub together or touch can wound the bark and invite infection. Airflow prevents fungal diseases, etc.

Then, if what you’re pruning is a flowering tree or shrub, you can take the branches inside, put them in water, and you’ll get some interior flowers in as little as a few days, what you see in the picture are prunings from my pear tree in a jar of water in one of my windows.

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11 Responses to “Pruning a Pear Tree”

  1. Chris De La Rosa  Says:
    April 17th, 2007 at 3:34 pm

    Thanks for the great info you shared on pruning a pear tree. About 3 years ago we purchased the home we’re now living in and we were lucky enough to have a pear tree in our backyard. Seems the previous owner didn’t have much pruning skills since there is some work to get done. I’ll be doing the pruning within the next couple days (providing it warms up a bit). We’ve noticed that though the tree bears a wonderful crunchy pear, the majority of flowers and baby pear falls off. Also.. we’ve noticed that the ones that do stay long enough to mature is often scarred or deformed. From hear-say I heard that it’s normal to spray the trees with some sort of chemical/insecticide to help the tree produce perfect shaped and un-scarred pears. Is there any truth to this? What is it that’s sprayed and when is it applied?

    Any info you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

    Keep up the sharing of great info.

    Chris..

  2. Administrator  Says:
    April 18th, 2007 at 8:11 am

    There are lots of pesticides for use on fruit trees. Make sure you follow the manufacturer’s instructions though, and make sure you don’t spray when the flowers are still out (wait until they’ve all turned to fruit). Just off the top of my head Sevin is okay for use on fruit trees at certain concentrations.

    And yes, many fruits fall off, and many are oddly shaped. Shape doesn’t affect flavor though.

    I rarely spray my pear tree.

  3. Chris De La Rosa  Says:
    April 19th, 2007 at 4:49 am

    Thanks. I do have some Sevin so I may give that a try.

  4. Brushcutters  Says:
    April 25th, 2007 at 7:17 am

    I was looking for advice on this and through the post and comments I have found out what to spray my pear tree with.

  5. Helen Ryan-Evans  Says:
    July 29th, 2007 at 3:17 am

    I have an old pear tree in my garden, which for the past couple of years has suffered with a rust infection. Would pruning help?

  6. Administrator  Says:
    July 30th, 2007 at 12:16 pm

    Rust is a fungal infection (if that is indeed what you have). Pruning might be severe, but remove heavily infected leaves atleast, pick up ALL debris from aroudn the base of the tree. Then treat with a fungicide, both topical and systemic.

  7. Antonette Hollenbach  Says:
    October 12th, 2007 at 1:12 pm

    we purchased some acreage in rural Pierce Co. last year and We gained a small orchard. While I’m sure in it’s day it was a beautiful area. it is now about 30 years overgrown. After we cleared the blackberry brambles, i discovered 3 pear, 2 cherry, 5 apple, 9 plum, and 3 hazelnut trees. a raspberrry area that over took it’s boundries. I suffered some storm damage last year and there is evedence of previous storm damage that has effected the heart wood, and will need to be removed. some of the trees have had secondary trees sprout up at least 3 or 4 feet from the original esablished tree. would i be better off trying to save the old ill planed tree, or should i try to encourage the new trees? they both bore fruit this year. Some of my Apple trees have even tipped. they are at an angle, as if they were blown over. but they live still! and all bore friut this year! Amazing! the apples did have some sort of little worm that appeared to gain entrance through the bottom of the fruit. I did’nt see any holes in the skin but when you cut the fruit you could see the rust colored tunnel marks from the core out ward. I figure baby steps!! that way I don’t get overwhelmed, because this really is a dream come true for me. I wanted to plant fruit trees because I love to do home canning and this way I figure I have a big jump start. But there is a very short learning curve here. I got some fabulous information here and I’m so glad I found this site. I sure could use some advice form any one in my area with a similar knowledge. Thank you! I appreciate your time! Antonette.

  8. James Green  Says:
    October 14th, 2007 at 12:18 pm

    Hi I purchased a home with a beautiful pear tree (40 years old) right next to my porch. The previous owner left the house in poor shape and it had to be treated for termites. When they were treating it they put the chemicals around the home and drilled through the concrete in some places. I have three kids and I would love to eat the fruit, I am just worried that the pear tree’s roots may have taken in some of the termite poison. Is this a realistic possibility? Any thoughts? If the fruit is inedible my wife wants me to take it down to make a bigger porch.

  9. Michele Paulse  Says:
    July 5th, 2008 at 10:11 am

    Last year our pear tree did not bear any buds or fruit. That was the first time something like that happened to the tree. We thought it was because of the strange weather we had in the spring. This year the tree bore lots of buds and tiny pears but within a few weeks all but a few pears fell off. Might the cause be frost after a warm spell in early spring? Might the soil be lacking a mineral?

  10. Tree pruning  Says:
    July 18th, 2008 at 9:39 am

    WOW. thanks for the TIPs. I do really find them helpful. :D

  11. john  Says:
    August 11th, 2008 at 9:48 am

    i have some pears trees and they are growing straight up.what should i do?how should i prune them?
    thanks

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