Glad it work out.
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Anyone have a pear pruning guide they recommend? Iâve been topworking wild callerys in local parks like crazy and need to give them haircuts.
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All of my pears are on Callery rootstock.
Shenseiki seedling
Yali
Bartlett
Shinko
Pai Li
Ayers
Drippin Honey
Chojoro
Harvest Queen
They are ripen real fast now due to the hot weather.
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Tony,
When I grew Shinko, mine had brown skin pears. Canât tell if your were brown skin.
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They will get darker brown in another week or so. They are real juicy and sweet. One of my favorite.
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I usually pick them anywhere from light yellow to fully yellow. They are real good at those stages.
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Did your Tennosui fruit for you this year, Tony?
Tennosui is productive. The taste definitely a mixed of Asian and European, juicy, crunchy, and a hint of tangy.
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I went out with my ladder today to see if the last couple were ripe but they were gone. Rats! Oh well. Maybe next year!
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How many worthless callery I wonder have we turned into valuable fruit now? I ate another one today!
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@clarkinks Clark, how big should the callery be, or does it matter as long as it lives? I got permission to look around and dig on a couple properties here. I know they have wild pear, Iâve seen it, though the owners did not know of it. Some is very large, some waist high. I can dig the smaller ones. Do I just cut the larger and come back next year for sprouts from it?
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I hate to rain on everyoneâs parade here, but please remember that callery pears are horribly invasive. In this part of the country they are over-running forests, vacant lots, and highway right-of-ways. They are giving bush honeysuckle a run for the money to see who will take over the world first. The state of Ohio has passed a law banning the sale of callery pears, for good reason.
Like so many invaders these trees were first thought to be a great addition to the landscape. Bradford, Cleveland, ectâŚthey were thought to be sterile. But when they cross-pollinate they create the devilâs spawn, producing small fruits spread by birds. Yes, they are thorny and in no way an asset to the plant world.
Please remember that while your âgold mineâ may yield a good source of rootstock, when your grafts break off or when the tree suckers youâve released another devil on the world. I spend much of my life fighting invasive honeysuckle, garlic mustard and others. Callery pears could be the worst.
My advice: when you see callery pears in the wild, cut them off at the ground and treat the stump with herbicide. Youâve done your part for the environment.
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Marc, I have a similar hatred for autumn olive. However Callery is actually a usable source of rootstock and is not an issue in a well managed orchard. They are not even close to as bad as multiflora rose, Japanese knotweed, barberry, and a few others I canât think of off the top of my head. But yes, they can take over if not managed as Clark has done with his property.
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Maybe you missed the point. They are invasive, but if grafted to something else, much better. The were developed as rootstock after all, just propagated because they had pretty flowers. Clark has much more experience with them, but I havenât seen weak graft problems where they break. Weak wood is what happens with Bradford or Callery, Cleveland grown out as a tree.
I am avoiding paying out cash for rootstock, yes, but if I wanted cheap, I would just buy them. <$1.49 each is better than digging. But my pulling them out and herbicide on the remainder keeps the stream area clean. Like I said, the owner doesnât know the pears exist, though itâs obvious as I drive past.
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Callery can be small , medium or large if you can get it our of the ground with half itâs root it will be fine to transplant.
Remember in Kansas they are not yet an invasive. They have potential to be invasive someday like elm, mulberry, Multiform and many others. If they grew like that you would think it would show by now but it hasnât. In a state with heavy rains and pleasant weather they might be a terrible problem. Cedar take over everything here.
Very true the key to any property is what you said is to properly manage it.
They can kill all the callery they want and the truth is its futile. They are our newest tree so rather than fight them I embrace them. Everything in life is a blessing or curse. One person would say they are blessed because they got free rootstock from the birds. Another person will say they are cursed because weâre salted with invasive trees by the birds.
They occupy any vacant spot near most citiesâŚand even in the countryside.
Callery pear seedlings by the thousands. Like honeysuckle.
You canât put either of those Genies back in the bottleâŚ
so let the tree-huggers try if they think they can.
But, they canât. Therefore, learn to make lemonade from lemons!
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Cut it off tordan the stump it will die but the ground is poison for 7 years. The first thing that will tell you the ground recoved will be callery in 7 years. People who let these things seed were not taking care of their land but land developers, real estate companies , banks and many others were the biggest offenders for letting them seed. They buy huge tracks of lands and investment properties but donât take care of them. The time to stop the spread of callery has now passed. If you graft them over your doing the very best thing you can. Remember every nursery for the most part uses some type of rootstock and they are one of the best. If someone wants a hay field they tordan the callery pears as they come up mowing off the field every year which is very effective. Is the wild blackberry, Elm, cedar, Multiform rose, honeysuckle, mulberry any less of a problem?
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