That sounds like a good approach.
As for the timingā¦do you guys think now is fine? No need to wait till next year?
@susu,
Everyone may have different goal and circumstances that he/she needs to take into consideration. Then, prune accordingly.
I donāt have serious deer pressure. I donāt worry about mowing under my pear tree. I want a shorter tree so it will be easy to spray, bag, pick fruit. I do not need to maximize the yield and I do not want a majestic looking tree.
With that, Iāve chosen a modified central lead for my pear trees. I keep scaffolds bend almost horizontal. Once the trees reach 8-10 Ft tall, I chop off the top. Any branch that shoot up from there get bended or removed depending how bendable they are and what position/angle those new shoots are in.
I have not tried a bowl shape on pear. That could be challenging.
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@Susu, I would definitely go ahead and just wipe off the bottom three branches.
Then, go back and read what @mamuang just said- I think she nails it.
I also have not tried a bowl (open vase) on pear, but Iām sure itās doable. Vases can be very attractive and you can keep the tree low, which is a plus, so if you chose to do it you can. @alan I think sometimes recommends letting a tree get some height, and then converting it to a vase, so maybe heāll offer suggestions.
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All this is true for me too. So Iād like to give pruning a try on pear.
This sound like a good start.
Iāll see if I can do a search on pruning and dig up his thoughts on this.
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2 of my European pears are mostly open-centered, but itās hard to keep that form. They love to try to muddle up the middle.
I bent main scaffolds to achieve this, which is good, but Iād recommend bending less enthusiastically until late in the season. I had water spouts galore after my first try! I did them too horizontally! I hardly got growth on the ends of the scaffolds I wanted but got a lot of suckers.
Now I have it down pretty well. The middle will always need a little clearing out, Iām thinking, but rubbing off anything that could pop up there works fine enough, and if you miss some, you can cut it all the way off later, too. Watch out for fireblight weather, tho.
I just grafted my first Asian pear 
Iām not sure how differently they may grow than Euros as far as vigor, spouts, etc, go.
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Tippy. I think you said it all. Love your style. Bill
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Thank you, Bill. Iāve had a lot of practices. My KG has been in ground for 10 years and my 20th Century for 9 years. They have been butchered, I mean āprunedā quite a bit. For me, a modified central lead style meets my needs and preference for pears. It is not easy to contain pears. They grow like weeds.
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