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Fruit & Orchards

Question on pruning and shaping cherry and asian pears

13 years ago

First the cherry tree. I like the shape it is growing in, so I would rather not shape it. However I also want to grow healthy. Based on the picture, does anyone think I need to shape it? Also, do I need to prune back 1/3 of this year's growth like I did with the asian pears?

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Next the pears. This one tree is giving me trouble. As you can see from the picture, while most of the branches at the trunk are at a good angle, at some point most of them decide that up is the only way to go. Any suggestions on how to get this tree back into a good shape?

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Comments (2)

Noogy
13 years ago
Languard- I'm no professional, and there surely are more knowledgeable folks on this forum, but from what I see and my limited experience there are a couple things that come to mind.
Your pear looks like it's laterals are overtaking the central leader in vigor. Top the central leader to promote more branching, then save the ones that balance the canopy and allow light penetration down below. You'll need to bend some of the lower branches to just 15degrees above horizontal eventually and keep them there through a season in order to form a balanced pyramidally shaped scaffold and get pears quicker.
Scaffold creation-
Observe the vigor(girth of your mid level branches) and length should be less than the lower branches. #2 from the top is becoming dominant, and maybe it's the picture, Cut it back to 3/4"stub(there maybe replacement branches you might want to generate).

Ideally you want 3-4 main lower branches that fork as they extend, and then maybe fork again. I keep my sets of laterals 18" apart horizontally along the main stem.
Don't be afraid to prune it back cause it'll bounce back quickly and then you'll know where you're heading.
Or cut off stubby and the other lower one and go with the next set as your lower branches. 6" wont make a difference much. Cut the 2 remaining lateral in 1/2, and tie down to just above horizontal and train the branches outwards. That may be the least complicated solution.
Have fun!
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languard
Original Author
13 years ago
Pro or not, I appreciate the advice. A bit scary to trim a branch down to a stub, but I've been thinking of doing that. Good to know I'm not crazy for thinking of it.

Thanks again for responding :)
Languard
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Ken, I'm not sure what you mean by 'bolt'. It came out of dormancy in late March and had some blooms on it for the first time. The top photo on this web-page (see link below) shows the tree as it was coming out of dormancy. So I thought it had survived the transplant last Fall in good shape. Here in Maryland we really haven't had hot weather yet. Since I started noticing the droopy leaves I don't think it has gotten above the 70's though we could use rain. I'm a little concerned about watering it too much though. I suppose another possibility is that a borer is damaging the roots. Does this seem plausible? Anyway, you are probably right that there's not much I can do at this point except make sure it is adequately watered. The only other (desperate) action I can think of would be to do some additional pruning to lower the number of leaves. Here is a link that might be useful: pear in late march
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