Question about pruning a new bare-root pear tree

14 years ago

I recently planted a bare root pear, a D'Anjou Red on dwarfing rootstock, the catalog says it should grow 18' tall and 13' wide. I have it planted on a 2' tall mound for drainage purposes. I would like to be able to pick at least some of the fruit without using a ladder. The tree currently has four well balanced branches, the problem is they start about 5' up the tree. If I cut the tree down will new branches sprout from the trunk? Should I leave it alone or prune?

Here's a pic:

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Comments (5)

ashleysf
14 years ago
I personally would prune it to knee height, but YMMV.
I planted several bareroot trees this winter and all of them got chopped to knee height. I did this because I followed the recommendation of Dave Wilson Nurseries (to be able to harvest without ladders). In my case 3 of those trees that are just single sticks about 30 inches tall are pushing new buds already. Here is the link to the video @ Dave Wilson nursery website.

Here is a link that might be useful: Planting and pruning a fruit tree - DWN video
macmanmatty2
14 years ago
I would prune the tree to as tall as you want the tree to be, if you cut off less you are only putting yourself back in the game. New leaves and growth will probably only come from the trunk if there are buds there. Otherwise you will probably get rootstock growth coming from below the graft.
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Oh God! It can be frustrating to read people giving advice based on books they've read. There has been so much bad advice given on pruning over the years it is boggling to the mind and a lot of it is published and written by pedigreed specialists. Fortunately things are getting better in the information coming from places like Cornell if you search for advice for commercial growers- the stuff for the home grower tends to be quite uneven. Different cherries have different growth habits and cherries are amongst the most difficult trees to prune to the most productive shape. I struggle to achieve good productivity from a reasonably compact tree but at least the first years don't have to be complicated. It is most likely that your tree will become an open center tree even if you try to maintain it as a central leader, but if you train it originally as a central leader for the first 2 years using the ratio formula I've suggested you will have a leg up producing a productive and compact tree. If you want an open center from the get-go, just plan to cut the central leader to a scaffold after 2 years. Cherry trees usually only need 3 scaffolds to harvest the full 360 of available light. The real goal of pruning any fruit tree in my opinion is to produce a tree with the maximum amount of well lighted fruiting (small) wood and the least amount of structural (large) wood. Basically harvesting the most light with the least "infrastructure".
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The big box store trees can be a problem. First, in order to sell well, they are grown large. This is problematic even with a good bare-root harvest. Then, to compound the issue, the roots are in pretty rough shape. The combination leads to not enough roots to support the top. So, heavy pruning of the top is advised in order to balance them out until the roots can regrow. IMO, more cutting may be in order. If you do cut them off low, be sure to check for live buds below the point you hope to cut. Most of my experience is with peaches, and doing this to an older tree such as those sold at big box stores can be lethal as there is no live buds along the trunk to grow out. I think apples and pears may be more capable of putting forth new branches low on the trunk, but I'm not certain of that. Either way, I wouldn't be heading those off so severely as I would try to maintain the central form. The shipped cherry, and the store trees may have been treated differently, causing the differential growth. It is possible the store-trees were cooler-stored until just before shipping to the store. Only time will tell. And if they are as dormant as you say, it is not too late to prune further if you so desire.
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Believe the book. The guy at the nursery said to dig a hole just slightly larger than the root ball and plant the tree with 50/50 native soil and compost. Bad idea, because you just created a "flower pot" of very loose soil in the middle of the native dirt. I've done this without the compost and it worked well, but only for native plants. "Extreme Gardening" says to dig a hole as deep as the root ball and 4-5 times as wide, plant the tree in native soil, then topdress with compost, not allowing it to touch the trunk. Way better. Make sure the graft is above the dirt line. ALSO! After you have dug this nice wide hole, fill it with water, let it soak in, then fill it again and let it soak in. This makes a large supply of water under the plant. Around the edge of the hole, make a temporary ridge of dirt to make a basin. When you water, slowly trickle water in until the basin is full. That ensures that there is water outside the root ball to encourage roots to grow outwards. Compost against the trunk can provide save harbor for fungi and bark-eating insects. If you are going to stake the tree - and only stake it if it's floppy - pound the stakes in at the edges of the basin and use something slightly flexible like old panty hose to lightly hold the tree upright. The trunk neeeds to flex a bit to encourage it to get stronger. This year, don't prune any branchlets anywhere on the tree. If it gets a crop of apples, thin them out real early or they'll break the tree.
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thisisme
14 years ago
This has been a much debated subject and always will be as there is no answer thats right for everyone. Keep in mind that there are lots of fruit picking tools you can use besides a ladder.

If it were my tree I would top it at 5' just below the current branches. In the Fall when it goes dormant you will have lots of possible scaffold branches to chose from.

fruit pickers.....

http://www.amazon.com/TwisterPicker-Fruit-Picker-the/dp/B000BBCUD8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1265849529&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Do-Best-M3-Fruit-Picker/dp/B000CZ4J6Y/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1265849529&sr=8-2
tammysf
14 years ago
I want my trees shorter and bushier so I am cutting all my bare root trees at about 2.5-3 ft range.

We just planted 9 trees this past weekend.
alan haigh
14 years ago
You have 2 choices, I figure. You can pull the 2 branches to horizontal and cut the top when it reaches your desired height and get fruit maybe a year sooner from a weird shaped tree. You can make those 2 branches your main frame even, if tree sends out no lower branches, which it probably would.

The other is to start the tree over as has been suggested here and shape the tree in the conventional manner. If the tree was just transplanted you may not lose time by doing this- unless the roots were undamaged in transplant (potted tree). Pears are one tree that I think may benefit from aggressive pruning after transplanting (with due respect to C. Whitcomb). They don't transplant well and dehydrate from root damage much more than most species. I have too often had pear trees runt out after transplant when they aren't cut back significantly.

Question about pruning a new bare-root pear tree

Comments (5)

ashleysf

macmanmatty2

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thisisme

tammysf

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