Pear tree advice for newbie

[tumsh]

Hi,

I've just taken over an overgrown allotment that has an old pear tree smack in the middle. All my allotment neighbours recommend chopping it down but I think this is a bit drastic.

Any advice on a pear tree that hasn't produced fruit so some years ?

Thanks.

[tumsh]

[Digeroo]

Welcome to A4A.

There is a nasty little bug that attacks pear trees and if you have it it is difficult to get rid of.  The tree flowers, the fruit set and then they all fell off with a nasty little black bit in each fruit.  I managed to get a few pears one year by lighting fires under the tree just after all the fruit fell off the year before.  In the end I got rid of it and planted an apple instead. 

[Robert_Brenchley]

Wait and see. There might be something serious, it may just need rejuvenating. I'd cut two or three big branches off - no more than that. take all but three of the buds off each when they start to sprout in the spring. Give it a year and see. If it looks at all hopeful, take some more branches next winter.

[manicscousers]

Hiya, tumsh, welcome to a4a  ;D
what Robert said  ;D

[saddad]

Hi Tumsh... and welcome to A4A... what Robert said but a grease band around the trunk to stop the little blighters climbing back up over Winter...  :)

[Deb P]

I would always have a go at trying to help a mature tree fruit before doing the drastic chopping down as a last resort.

I would start by looking at the tree and cuttin off any dead or diseased branches. This time of year the leaves have fallen off so you can see what you are doing.

I would then clear away any grass or big weeds from the base of the tree, and put a grease band around the trunk as previously suggested. This will help stop any pear midges crawling up to get at any fruit next spring. The next thing I would do is put a layer of cardboard around the bottom of the tree, at least 3-5' around or more, and weigh it down with some well rotted manue of any kind. This will help stop any more weeds/grass growing back to compete for nutrients, and the manure will gradually feed the tree too. Hopefully this will encourage fruiting next year, if the tree is very overgrown you might need to prune it back to give it more encouragement but that can be dealt with gradually over several years.

[tumsh]

Hi everybody,

Thanks for the interesting advice. You have inspired me to get pruning and bring the tree back to life.

thanks again.

Cheers.

[betula]

There is an old saying

Grow Pears for your heirs.....they take so long so well worth trying a revival.  :)

[Robert_Brenchley]

True, but that was based on the old practice of planting them on their own roots. They'd live for a century and more - far longer than apples - but they took so long to come into fruit that it would be the next generation that got the benefit.