The following is a request for feedback from people with actual experience growing full size pear trees (not on semi-dwarf or dwarfing rootstock):
My prime experience with picking pears off of old trees was at a friend’s house (she inherited some very tall old pear trees). Despite the height of the trees, the fruit would largely drop to the soft ground (lots of tall grass) while still firm and so it could be collected for ripening and consumption without any issue. Because the trees are much taller than wide the actual footprint of each tree did not seem at all unreasonable to me.
For those of you who actually have full size pears, do you regret planting/allotting space to them or have you been happy with your tall pear trees?
Our story is very similar. We pick pears off a full size tree on a friend’s property. It’s a tree that’s never been pruned, watered, fertilized, etc in all the years I remember, but it puts on insane amounts of large fruit. There’s something to be said about the vigor of a standard tree.
Standard pears are way more economical with space than standard apples in my experience though.
They won’t take that long in most cases 10 - 15 years they will be full sized. The Pears for your heirs phrase was told to me for the last 30+ years but I keep planting them / grafting them. Don’t care if I live to eat the fruit off all of them or not I hope the next generation enjoys them if I don’t. Hopefully they keep the next 3 or 4 generations alive.
Unfortunately I live in a neighborhood where anything I plant will be removed by the next owner. Very little chance they will remain. The bird planted the tree then I grafted them where they stand
When you start eating that fruit it will be very healthy as that tap root goes deeper. Trees like that will grow very quickly. What did you graft it to?
I guess I’m not surprised, but I must say that I’m happy to hear from each of you with actual experience with full sized pears that they have proven desirable for you. Sometimes these types of topics get inundated with opinions from people who don’t actually have relevant firsthand experience to back them up so it’s really good to see your responses!
Callery pear. Assumed to be from bird droppings. These trees are less than 15 feet tall so I have limited experience in full size trees. I have noticed that my grafted pears grow big enough that the rootstock cannot provide for them and they loose leaves mid summer and are bare by September about 1.5 months too early. It is too cold for me to prune these trees when they are fully dormant.
They likely won’t get over 25 -30 feet tall. Wild Callery pears full size is not what people think. Bradford were a type of callery with weak branches and tall height but yours are not those. Expect fruit very soon on wild callery < 15 years.
The leave alone policy did not work for me. I have full size pear planted in 1948 that were completely unproductive until pruned down to ten feet. Since I cut them back they have been reinvigorated and highly productive. My pears that fall to the ground are usually bruised from the fall and rot in the ripening process. I only save tree picked pears for storage, Plus, I don’t want to pick higher than about 10 feet.
Yes some climates are like that remember in Kansas we have frequent wind storms. Why prune when it will be pruned for me shortly anyway. My goal is to get fruit clean up the messes as they come up. If I lived in Washington I might prune to invigorate. If there is no die back , no cross limbed , no lack of fruiting why prune? When I prune like you I have a specific reason. The thing I’m trying to get across is people try to prune a pear to be pretty but they are not pretty they don’t like to grow like that. The person and the tree get locked into a heated battle over height and shape but unlike you it’s not really about fruit. Many people have never got fruit because they keep cutting off their fruit buds ever year. Their pear is 10 feet tall but 15 years later they ask why they still have no fruit. They never will get fruit until they let that wood get older and quit pruning that pear. Many people prune when there is no disease or reason whatsoever to do it. A man down the road pruned his beautiful apples 10 years ago taking them out of production and a couple years ago I began to see a few apples finally. In your case you had unproductive pears planted in 1948 which is different they need to be revived. This is another complicated matter which is what’s under the soil? In the Texas pan handle water can be an issue if your tree uses all its water feeding branches and leaves there was none for fruit.
@txpanhandle1 Would you attribute the current productivity of your pear tree specifically to it being kept short? Or rather would you attribute it to being rejuvenated by removal of unproductive wood? If I’m honest it sounds like your tree benefited from rejuvenation pruning which is a separate issue from overall tree height.
Also, did the pears fall on hard ground or was there anything to buffer their fall (like tall grass)?
I have found I need to pick my pears before they fall to the ground. I have a couple pickers, a Twister and a basket-type, on long telescoping poles, but it is still a job to reach high pears. The very top ones I sometimes leave for the critters if I can’t shake them loose. I should probably lop off the tops of the tall trees, but they aren’t hurting anything, so I haven’t yet. Dwarf trees aren’t hardy enough this far north. Homegrown pears are soooooo good! Frozen ones make great pear crisp. Pear jam goes great on Greek yogurt. I think the Luscious are my favorite for fresh eating. The name says it all.
No harm in leaving high up pears for the critters since you would not be getting them anyway if you topped the tree. At least by leaving it full height you aren’t creating a never ending pruning battle with the tree.