Well, to return to the original question-"Should I try to have them grow like a peach tree with 3 or 4 main branches? Or do I need to do something different?"- I'd say do something different. Open center pruning was a response to brown rot on peaches in the south- it let sunlight and air circulation reduce the humidity that ruined the crop. The only reason I can think of to do it with apples pears and plums is that you don't like ladders. Modified leader is really multiple leader- you let two or three scaffolds turn upward and compete with the central leader. Eventually, you top them all off. There's more pruning of crossing branches than with with central leader, but you'll get more production out of apricots and plums with the additional branching, and pears just have a natural tendency to grow this way. Bart, you said "some (especially some apples) have 4 or 5 branches radiating out of the trunk on a few different levels so there may be nearly 20 branches spaced in 18" of vertical trunk." I'd take most of those off. Even if you later cut out the leader, you'll want at least 6" between each branch. And you'll eventually cut off everything below 3 or 4'.

Hi Ladyslipper (a striking plant, by the way). More knowledgeable posters will give you fuller answers, but you should have no trouble maintaining a pear on any rootstock at less than 15 feet. They are prone to shooting up, and have a reputation for being slow to come into bearing, but pruning helps fix both those problems. I planted a good-sized Gold Spice three years ago which fruited immediately (the same year it was planted) and then again the next year, but which did nothing last year. It is loaded with spurs now. I've cut it up quite a bit, sticking various scions onto it, and if the gods are smiling I might get a crop this year. It's on OH x F???. I have it at about 10 feet now and will keep it below 12 or so. Here's a link to a discussion on this subject: file:///C:/My%20Documents/Fruittrees/Fruit%20Tree%20Height%20-%20Fruit%20&%20Orchards%20Forum%20-%20GardenWeb.htm Then here's a quote from a post Don Yellman (Jellyman) made in response to a question of mine: >>RE: Too late to prune apple trees? clip this post email this post what is this? see most clipped and recent clippings * Posted by jellyman 6/7VA (My Page) on Tue, Sep 5, 06 at 11:59 Mark: I think it depends on the tree and its individual circumstances and characteristics. Summer pruning places stress on a tree. In my orchard, where all the trees are healthy and vigorous, and mulched at least once a year with a thick layer of stable manure, that stress is a positive factor since it promotes fruiting spur development and helps control unwanted vegetative growth. I don't think I would summer prune a weak, sick, or spindly tree, or a very young tree that is just establishing its scaffold. But when they reach 5-6 years of age and begin substantial fruit production, I think you can switch over entirely to summer pruning so long as trees remain healthy. One other thing I have done to the apple trees in recent years is to completely remove the central leaders and change them over to more of a vase shape. I think this has improved the color and quality of the apples, as well as making the trees easier to spray, thin, and pick. And I have cut off these major leader branches in late summer to try to discourage the bushy regrowth that will inevitibly occur at the pruning cut. Regrowth still occurs, but it is less vigorous than if done in the dormant season. When bushy regrowth occurs in the center of the trees, I cut it off immediately as I wander around the orchard. I usually carry a pruning shears in my back pocket when I am out there. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VAYou've asked a good question- and one which we all keep wrestling with. But I think the bottom line on your planting is that yes, you can plant under the power line and maintain your tree at an acceptable size without compromising fruit production, and you don't have to be constrained by questions of dwarf/semi-dwarf/standard. I didn't try to answer your question "Is there an advantage to growing a standard tree ..." because (1) I don't know what a "standard" tree is and (2) I wouldn't know the answer if I did! Pears have been grown on a number of rootstocks (quince, seedling, OH x F crosses, even Medlar, I guess) in efforts to fight fireblight and control size, and I'm not sure there are clear definitions now. Short answer: Plant the dern thing and keep the shears at hand. Good luck, M

Ashley (just sent you an email), We only live a couple hours apart and we see the same trees at big box and nurseries. You're probably seeing "ultra" on the Pacific Groves trees, right? Some are in bags (bareroot) at various places and some in the fiberpot containers (Lowes). If so, you can drop the term "ultra" and just consider it dwarf. Dwarf and semi-dwarf are what you're aware of: "regular trees on lower vigor rootstocks". These are prolific at nurseries and big box stores alike. Genetic dwarf, aka Miniatures or "true dwarf" are more rare, they are "dwarf trees on whatever (typically regular sized) rootstock". I think you already understand stocks especially how dwarf stocks ideally encourage fruit at younger age (early bearing) and retain a heavier fruit set (precocious). Each stock is different in various properties like size reduction, early bearing, preciousness, disease resistance, soil tolerance, and so forth. The rootstock is *mostly* what makes dwarf and semi-dwarf so small -- the lower vigor. The scion of certain varieties can be somewhat dwarfing and so can their tolerance of summer pruning. It ALL depends on variety, rootstock, and growing conditions. Thus why I've spent countless hours researching the various stocks and varieties before I go buying and planting gobs of them in my yard. Take the Babcock peach, very common. It can be grafted onto Lovell as full sized, on Citation is considered semi-dwarf, on Pumiselect called dwarf (PG calls it Ultra) but Babcock will never be a miniature (genetic dwarf). Just as Necta-Zee (another newer genetic dwarf) will never be a semi-dwarf or full sized tree. The mini's are very small, though their size differs based on variety, but many are 3 feet tall (unpruned) after 2 years old in the ground, whereas the PG ultra-dwarf could be like 6 feet by then. LE Cooke (near Visalia) also produces miniature trees, but I'm not sure the volume since I've only found a couple local nurseries that have ever had any -- and those nurseries don't plan to stock them anymore. The folks at LE Cooke have not responded to my inquiries. Nevertheless, they have an awesome website with cool photos of their genetic dwarfs. Here is a link that might be useful: Take a look at LE Cooke's Site

Hi Drew- Talked to the extension people this week and learned: 1. There was one sample brought in, not several. But, there were several people describing the same symptom to the horticulturist anecdotally. There is a lot of room for error here, so after I learned that I assumed that there should be a large fudge factor built in. 2. The sample that did come in was sent to the Plant Pathology Clinic at MSU in Bozeman and they simply said it wasn't sick, but they didn't know why it was so small. We did have a nasty hot spell during the summer. I think it hit 105 F several -a few?- days in a row, and a lot of things were showing stress. My apples did fine, but we were overwatering, if anything. (My youngish pear didn't fruit last year.) So it's easy for me to imagine that it was related to that, and the idea of insufficient calcium, or somethin' sounds plausible to me, but I'm ignorant in the matter. Have I ever seen this before? Well, I only got into pears a few years ago, but I do think I've seen large pear trees, overloaded with tiny fruit, and wondering why it all was so small. Once again, it's easy for me to imagine that if you take a large tree, fail to prune it, let it overcrop and then subject it to extremes of temperature that you'll get undersized fruit. But if that happens to my pampered baby I'll be a little less relaxed about it! Best, M