Simple answer could be: the Bartlett may be precocious compared to the Anjou. It's just not uncommon for pears to take years to decide to bear. So as long as Anjou is otherwise healthy there may be no reason to worry. But it's also true that pruning practices affect fruiting immensely. Heavy dormant pruning of vigorous trees into espaliers may delay spur formation on one variety more than on another. But summer pruning encourages spur formation, and there are claims that this is particularly dramatic when done just prior to the solstice (Happy Summer, by the way.) Just my best guesses- the more experienced may have better advice.

So after discussing it with my husband, we decided to drop the idea of growing pears - we both like them, but just don't eat enough of them, and if they'll have issues with not enough light, it's not worth it. We're still going to try for the apples, though. Current thinking is first one McIntosh type: McIntosh, Liberty, Jonamac, (Macoun, Cortland?) for my husband and his applesauce. :) Now we just have to decide which one. I think we're going to head out to an orchard to try the different varieties firsthand. Second, probably Zestar. I wish I knew more about how it tastes, though. I think it might be too late in the season to find any to try myself, though I did find a pick-your-own orchard that says they grow it on their website. Anyone have any personal impressions of it? Does it have a nice thin skin? I don't like tough skins (and that's a big reason I don't like Red Delicious). I was thinking of maybe having a third tree now we've decided no pears, and having it be Baldwin, since harvestman has seen it do ok with some shade, but I just read that it has a thick skin, so maybe I won't go in that direction after all... I don't know. I grabbed a bunch of apples from the grocery store to help me determine what we like the taste of best (since we haven't really tried many types), though many of them sound like they won't grow well here. Like I mentioned, we'll go apple picking soon to try some more. Of the ones we've tried so far, I really liked Braeburn, though it wasn't my husband's favorite. He thought it had a weird aftertaste. We both liked the flavor of the Fuji, but I thought the skin was a little too tough. He loved the McIntosh, of course, while I think the flavor is just so-so and wasn't a fan of the skin. I've changed my opinion on Ginger Gold and Golden Delicious. They're ok, but I think I prefer a crisper apple with a stronger flavor. My husband didn't even want to try any yellow or green apples, because he's weird. So yeah, still trying to figure out varieties. My friend said she's thinking of buying a pawpaw tree, so maybe I will have the chance to try some in a couple years. As far as cutting down trees - I don't dislike the ones we have, and I don't know if I'd want to cut them all down, but maybe I will get an arborist to take a look and see if any of them need to come down for reasons of safety or health of the trees. I kind of like how impressively tall they are. If only more light made it through somehow...

Nice set up, Mes111. Yes, Appleseed70, over the fence is fair game. Although I'd like the kids to wait because they'll grab them unripe and sprayed. I'd give them better apples anyway. The two trees show up there are basically the same. The bushy one is more overgrown because that's how it produces, but I am working on thinning out the top to get more sun to the lower. I'm not sure what the last tree was in the picture in '09. Judging from the description it was sawed off and grafted onto because I didn't like the variety. It's basically the same but bigger. Free standing and ready to go wild now. Hopefully should bear this year. Which reminds me, I want to get out there and put some more room between tiers. I've got two more both spur type this time. If the Macspur survives the fireblight that killed 2 and hurt it and another last year and starts producing the bushy one will be removed (maybe grafted to a free standing spot since it seems to withstand fireblight). The Earliblaze on the right is much better behaved than the Macspur on the left which is acting more like a semi-spur than it did on the free standing one which died. This was the Earliblaze last year before picking and pruning.

I had part of my small backyard landscaped, and asked the landscape contractor to plant 4 small fruit trees to be espalier against a wrought iron fence. They are Hosui asian pear, Stella cherry, Twentieth Century asian pear, and Craig's crimsom cherry. Although the landscape contractor recommended not trying the cherry trees due to their strongly upward growth, he went ahead and planted them. My learning points: The asian pears are a cinch to train and very fruitful. But the cherry branches must be trained during the brief period when the young branches are small and pliable. Once they begin to stiffen, it puts a strain on the branches to tie them horizontally. One branch finally cracked under the strain. My other mistake is how close the trunk is to the wrought iron fence. It looked great when the young trees were planted 1 1/2 years ago, only 2-3 inches from the fence. The trunk's girth is expanding rapidly even though they are all semi-dwarf rootstock, and are now touching the fence. I fear that in a few short years, my fence will begin leaning from the weight of the expanding tree trunks. Should have planted at least 6 inches from the fence. Wonder why the landscape contractor didn't point that out? He is very experienced.