Lifespan of "common" pear tree?

I moved into a home last year in on older neighborhood (house built in 1920's). Late this spring I noticed a barely visible tree blooming at the back of our yard with what looked like pear tree blooms. I assumed it was an ornamental pear, and since it looked half dead, was misshapen from long ago storm damage, and covered with vines, I gave it no more thought except to laugh at the fact that I had, unknowingly, with a large yard, planted a baby fruiting pear tree just beside the old tree. Long story short, if that darn old tree didn't this summer cover its few visible remaining branches with the most delicious pears I've ever tasted. Like honey, though I only got a few away from the wildlife.

Soo...my question....not knowing the cultivar, is it worth spending money to have an arborist/tree guy strip the vines off, prune up this tree and try to save it? I could not do it myself--its on a slope and too tall. Its not in the best location, looks like heck, but made perfect, honey-sweet pears with no care from me, while my expensive baby tree required daily organic sprays to fend off the ravenous hordes and, frankly, hasn't grown much. How long do pear trees live? This one is really tall, even with its storm damaged top, so I'm assuming its old....

Pear trees can live a very long time (and get very big). If you know of a really good arborist, or perhaps a local orchard manager, they usually give free estimates and can give you a decent perspective of whether it is worthwhile or not. Offhand, I'd say that if the tree has got a solid trunk, I'd go for keeping it.

Scott

Mine were planted in the mid 70's and are loaded with fruit this year.

I've seen some remaining from an original orchard planting in an old Russian ethnic community near Berlin (Germany), dating back to 1828. Other than olives, they probably are the longest lived fruit trees.

Guy S.

I would at least get rid of the vines. Just cut them off at the ground and don't worry about getting them out of the tree. A storm will take them out of the tree in the next year or two. If nothing else it will let the tree get more light. i don't know what yours looks like but around here vines will kill off a 30 foot tree by just cutting off the sun light to it. It's a fruit tree, their not know to be the pretties trees. Their working trees. LOL.

Sure! Keep it! Apparently, it's already doing well in its location.

PS: I once met an arborist tree "gal" who oddly, with her toned, scraped & bruised, arms and legs, reminded me a lot of myself. She almost made me want to be an arborist.

Don't prune it up. Fruit is best when it's accessible.

Be prepared for it to always have branches breaking off, it's natural for pears. It will either be from storms or from the heavy fruit load. I lose at least one good sized limb from mine every year but they quickly recover from it.

There's an old adage, "Plant pears, plant for your heirs.", a testament both to the longevity of pear trees, as well as the prolonged juvenile period most seedling pears have to grow through before they begin fruiting. Even grafted pears typically take a longer time to come into bearing than do grafted apples or stonefruits.

Thanks to all for the advice! You told me exactly what I needed to know. I am so happy to find out that it is long lived, and I will definitely invest in having a professional come and advise me on the best way to save it.