overgrown pear tree

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crockny Kerhonkson, NY(Zone 5a) Oct 01, 2009

Is there any way to rejuvenate a pear tree that is now 40-50 feet high and has tons of very tiny pears? Would lopping off the top half do any good?

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ecrane3 Dublin, CA(Zone 9a) Oct 01, 2009

What are you hoping to accomplish by rejuvenating--are you hoping it'll produce larger fruit? If so, before you start trying to do anything, do you know that it's a type of tree that is supposed to produce large fruit in the first place? I suspect that chopping off the top of the tree is not going to be the best solution, but if it is a pear that's supposed to produce larger fruit maybe there would be some other things you could do to help it. But there are plenty of ornamental pears (like Bradford) that only produce little fruits and nothing you do to them is going to change that.

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crockny Kerhonkson, NY(Zone 5a) Oct 01, 2009

Well actually it's inside my garden and a thousand tiny pears dropping makes a mess and attracts yellowjackets ... the other idea is to just chop it down entirely. The pears taste like Bartletts ... that's the trunk to the right of the iron bench ...

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ViburnumValley Scott County, KY(Zone 5b) Oct 01, 2009

I was assuming a Bradford (or other callery pear), and that crockny was going to lop off the half that was above ground...

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Stake Barmera, Australia Oct 02, 2009

If your tree is a Bartlett (WBC) then lopping off the top half will make it easier for you to thin the fruit on the remainder of the tree and of course make it easier to harvest that bigger fruit. The tree is not a Callery Pear (Pyrus calleriana) as the fruit on those is so astringent it is inedible. You could if you wish cut even more of the tree than half but you might not get any fruit next year if you remove all the fruiting wood. Do the lopping at the usual pruning time for your area IE Winter or early Spring.
Brian

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crockny Kerhonkson, NY(Zone 5a) Oct 05, 2009

Thanks -- I would have to hire someone as it is near the fence and very large ... I might try it -- the alternative is to just cut it down ... having no fruit for a year wouldn't be a problem -- right now its just a waste ...

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CoreHHI Bluffton, SC(Zone 9a) Oct 08, 2009

Old pear trees I've seen don't seem to have a problem producing big fruit. Kind of odd what you have going on. Pruning it probably isn't a bad idea and that would make it a manageable size to pick fruit if that's what you're going to do.

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