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Pruning a pear tree is an important task to ensure its health and productivity. Here are some key steps to follow:
1. Timing: Prune during late winter or early spring before new growth starts.
2. Tools: Use clean and sharp pruning shears, loppers, and a pruning saw.
3. Remove dead and diseased branches: Cut them back to the main trunk or a healthy lateral branch.
4. Thin out crowded branches: Remove any crossing, rubbing, or overcrowded branches to improve airflow and light penetration.
5. Shape the tree: Prune to create an open center or modified central leader shape, depending on the tree’s growth habit.
6. Remove water sprouts and suckers: These vigorous vertical shoots should be completely removed.
7. Prune for fruit production: Thin out fruiting spurs to improve fruit size and quality.
Remember to always step back and assess the tree’s overall shape and health as you prune.
Both European pear trees (Pyrus communis) and Asian pear trees (Pyrus pyrifolia) are significant fruit tree species in the United States, and like many other fruit trees, they are created by grafting the desired variety of pear onto a rootstock. The trees have an upright growth habit, and those grafted onto seedling rootstocks can be tall. All pear varieties produce better crops with cross-pollination, although some cultivars and varieties, such as Seckel, can produce sufficient crops when planted alone.
Pear trees should be trimmed immediately after planting, and they require annual trimming to keep them healthy, productive, and aesthetically pleasing. It’s important to have an understanding of how to trim a pear tree before you start.
The Best Time to Trim a Pear Tree
The ideal time to trim a pear tree depends on the type of training or trimming you are doing. When you want to trim a pear tree to remove suckers and water sprouts or to maintain a balance between vegetative growth and branches, summer trimming is recommended. For removing large branches and/or replacing the leader in the center of the tree, winter trimming during the dormant season is preferable.
How to Trim a Pear Tree when Planting
Apple trees and pear trees require similar care, but pear trees are generally easier to maintain. They require less complicated training and trimming and also have fewer insect issues.
It’s best to trim pear trees when they are first planted in your home orchard. Trimming fruit trees in this way is often referred to as training and should be done in early spring. The purpose of training is to establish the branch structure of the tree, leaving primary branches (known as “scaffold branches”) and reducing lateral branches. Because pears tend to have very narrow crotch angles, training is necessary to develop a strong branching structure.
Whether you’re trimming apple or pear trees, the process depends on the current size and shape of the tree. When planting larger, older trees, remove all branches coming from the base of the tree as well as all branches lower than 24 inches. Choose a strong upward branch for the central leader and then trim out other branches that compete with the leader. Use trimming cuts called “thinning” that remove the entire shoot or limb to its point of origin on the main trunk or branch. A pruning saw can be effective for this. Select between three and five well-positioned side branches with wide angles (at least 60 degrees) as scaffold branches to form the main branches of the tree.
Some experts recommend planting unbranched whips on calleryana rootstocks as the best young pear trees. If you have planted a whip (a slim, unbranched shoot) or a smaller tree without strong branches, trim back the whip or shoot to 24 to 30 inches above the ground. Make the cut at a 45-degree angle just above a bud. This will encourage the tree to branch and produce side shoots that can be options for scaffold branches in the following year. In the second growing season, trim off any limbs that are less than 18 inches and select the scaffold branches.
Yearly Trimming of Pear Trees
Most fruit trees thrive when pruned annually to maintain a balance between growth and fruit production, and pear trees are no different. However, due to the susceptibility of pears to fire blight, pruning instructions for pear trees typically involve removing water sprouts and root suckers, as well as thinning out branches that cross each other to enhance light and air circulation. It is recommended to perform this pruning during the summer.
To maintain the desired height of a mature standard pear tree (between 15 and 18 feet), periodically cut back the central leader to a weaker side branch growing vertically in the center of the tree. This should be done as part of winter pruning in late winter or early spring. This is also the ideal time to remove any excessively large branches from the pear tree.
Thinning Pear Fruit
Both pear trees and apple trees tend to produce more fruit than they can support until maturity. It is important to remove all but one fruit from each cluster and thin out clusters so that there is one cluster every 6 inches along each limb. Failure to do so will result in decreased flower buds for the following year and cause the tree to bear fruit only every other year.
Pruning Ornamental Pear Trees
An ornamental pear tree is cultivated for its beautiful spring flowers rather than its edible fruit. While any fruit produced by an ornamental pear tree may be consumed by wildlife, it is generally not consumed by humans. Prune these trees in late autumn to maintain a balanced canopy, eliminate dead or damaged wood, and encourage airflow in the center of the trees. Annual pruning of an ornamental tree will remove flower buds and reduce the display of blossoms.
