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Fruit & Orchards

Pruning & training pear tree

15 years ago

I have a 2 year old Ayers pear tree that I have trained the branches, except for one, to grow laterally. That lone branch has now become a central leader that has gotten to be about 12 ft. tall. Should I leave it alone, or should I cut it back, and by how much. If I cut it back, will that encourage side growth. Thanks

Ray

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Comments (3)

jellyman
15 years ago
Ray:

How many side branches have you trained around the tree? If it's 5 or 6, that is enough. I hope you have trained them to an angle of 60-70 degrees or so, not completely flat. You want to be able to get around the tree with the mower without the branches slapping you in the face.

If you have enough side branches trained, I would remove the central leader completely, just above the highest side branch you want to retain. You will end up with a vase-shaped tree, ideal for thinning, picking, and spraying should that be necessary. And you can do most of this from the ground without getting out the ladder. You definitely do not want a 12 foot leader in the middle of your tree.

Cutting back the leader will not necessarily encourage side growth, so make sure you have all the laterals you need before you do it. There will be bushy regrowth from the site of the cut, and it may require several minor prunings over the summer to keep the interior of the tree clear.

I have a couple of European pears that have been trained in exactly this way, and they are the easiest trees to maintain in my orchard. I thin them to one-per-cluster, and they produce nice big pears. In backyard fruitgrowing, the name of the game is quality, not quantity. A smaller tree will produce plenty of fruit to fill up your refrigerator, which is about all you can deal with. I have about 1/3 of the spare refrigerator in the basement filled with pears right now, getting the chilling treatment.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
rayrose
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks Don
I have 5 side branches that are fairly long, one is about
8 ft. Should I prune these back or leave them alone, and if so, by how much.
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They sure both look Asian to me. I think you should maybe replace both with trees properly identified, but because they are probably Asian they will probably adequately identify themselves very shortly. If they are Asian you don't have to worry about speeding their fruiting- they may even bear next season. The reason I would consider replacing them is because fireblight can be heartbreaking and even if you graft on other varieties the trees may be susceptible unless you have no tender new wood from original trees. On the bright side, many Asians are fireblight resistant. Multiple leader pear trees are common in commercial production in the west coast. Here in the east they are mostly grown to a central leader- I guess we don't get quite as much FB. Festooning (pulling branches below horizontal)the branches may encourage early fruiting but it will not encourage a great scaffold structure. I sometimes use the method for trees I plan to train to a weep or for Euro plums just to get them into fruiting mode but many types of pears should not be trained this way in my opinion. None of the Asians I grow would be good candidates for this, they fruit so early anyway. Asian and European pears are mostly pollen compatible- the problem can be timing of bloom. That issue will sort itself out as well when trees begin to flower.
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Clare: Open center, hands down. Your newly-planted trees are already the same height as my pear trees that have been in the ground for 15 years -- and it's not because of the rootstock, it's pruning and training. I would not have purchased and planted trees of this size, since I prefer to begin training well before they achieve that height. Horizontal branches are fine; vigorous central growth is not. Tying the branches down is one technique, branch spreaders is another. To control growth, try pruning in late summer. European pears are often slow to begin bloom and fruiting, but I have found that training to a vase shape and pruning in summer reduces the time required. Nurseries often like to sell very tall trees at premium prices since many people believe taller is better. The opposite is the case. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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Sconticut: I am not certain what kind of help you are looking for here, since you seem to know what you want to do. You don't say how old the pear trees are, but if they are 15 feet tall, it must be a few years. Have you done any branch spreading? That's how I prepared my pear tree for open vase form, using the central leader as a stop for one end of the spreaders. Eventually, when the branches were in place, I cut off the leader completely. If you want to be able to reach the branches with the low-ladder, no-ladder method, the lateral branches should start at about 4-5 feet up the trunk. I leave 5 or 6 branches around the trees, and it took about 3 years before they were spread and in place so I could cut off the leader. You can prune a healthy pear tree just about any time of the year and it will pop back strongly. The danger is a lot of unwanted vertical growth from the lateral branches, which you can control to some extent by pruning in late midsummer, or immediately after picking the fruit. This will moderate the vigor of the tree and increase fruitfulness. Do not prune in the dormant season, or small vertical branches will emerge like grass the following spring. Don't let the trees continue to grow upward, which serves no useful purpose. If you are satisfied with the placement and height of the laterals you already have, you can prune out the central leader right now. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA
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Noogy
13 years ago
Prune central leaders back to a horizontal branch 8-10' in late august in your location that way it wont force new growth.

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