@BobC
I agree completely with this thread as ive said for a long time now (10+ years) the more you prune and control pears the more you will prune and try to control pears. This thread i brought up my methods again Pear trees that produce bushels of fruit and avoid disease. @39thparallel and I were talking about this about 5 years ago because all the books discuss these radical pruning strategies but the pear trees have a very different idea. Ive grown some of the same pears i planted for over 25 years now like the one pictured in the thread i linked to and believe me i know what im talking about but its not in the books. Our goal is hopefully to produce fruit not scions and if thats our goal you cant argue with my results which support your post 100%. Thats not to say we know it all, people like @fruitnut , @alan, @Lucky_P, @scottfsmith and others have taught me so much through the years. Many others methods differ from mine slightly but are equally or more effective such as @tonyOmahaz5 . He is a very good pear grower with unique good ideas. With all that said our approaches sometimes differ due to environmental differences. @rayrose has a tough climate to grow pears in but he still does it because he knows what works for him. What works for me is different from others if i pruned a tree like the one in the picture was pruned that tree will most likely die of fireblight that year due to all the new growth. New growth is fireblights best friend which unfortunately new pear growers find out as they get frustrated and give up in many cases. This last year and many years before i take time to make notes about the harvest Here comes the 2019 pear harvest!. My research has taken a direction of experimental unfortunately since there are no pear orchards here already. I teach other farmers and friends or really anyone who will listen what works for me so hopefully the next generation will have it easier. My strategy is to never charge growers for anything that costs me nothing. Many times i pay shipping and dont charge for that. We are all in this life together so i hope the people ive helped pay it forward to someone someday in some way. The knowledge i have on pear growing is for the living and i want to share it and my unique fruits because once im dead i will have no need of pears to eat or knowledge of how to grow them. Those left behind will have empty bellies unless they learn before they get frustrated. Great post on over pruning!
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