Pear tree - old farm

[rflegel]

Hello all of you with more knowledge than I.

We recently purchased an old farmhouse and acreage that was not fully cared for in a good number of years due to previous owners health issues. We’ve done a lot but need your expertise on at least one pear tree.

The tree appears to have had good shape and structure years ago but there are three sucker branches I feel should be trimmed. Please see images above. They point straight up and I am concerned they are so large now at about 2-3 inches I might do damage to the tree with the exposed cut portions that will remain.

What are your thoughts?

We also have some old pears that are probably 30’ tall. Not sure there is any hope for these being pruned down and they mostly drop fruit for the bear as we can not harvest much of the fruit due to the height.

Thanks in advance for your help with the first tree mentioned above.

 

[BC WetCoast]

I would take off those suckers. Fruit pears are pretty hardy and can easily withstand that pruning.

What's the point of having a fruit tree if it's too big that you can't reach the fruit. If you're going to have these trees for the fruit, then expect to have to prune them regularly (annually) and for them to not reach their full life expectancy. If you look at a commercial orchard, the trees are pruned much harder. Look at some videos on fruit pruning, it's a totally different art than ornamental tree pruning.

 

[ATH]

I agree...take the suckers off. And some more thinning...

 

[Woody912]

I agree...take the suckers off. And some more thinning...

But isn't he going to make the tree more susceptible to fire blight with aggressive pruning?

 

[ATH]

Timing is very important. Don't know how much of a concern that is in PNW?

 

[ropensaddle]

Prune them even the 30 footers, as said; no sense having fruit trees you can't enjoy the bounty of. Timing was mentioned heavy pruning should be done in dormancy. Your goal will be restoration and you may sacrifice fruiting for a year or two by heading it back. I would start a few suckers as clones to plant in case the heavy heading kills them. Burn the rest of the wood and brush as disease can gestate from it.

 

[ropensaddle]

https://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/vegetables/tree_fruits_nuts/hgic1351.html

 

[rflegel]

Thanks for your words of wisdom. Just wondering if I might be too late for this year as buds are now beginning to show.

 

[LegDeLimber]

Not any help with the tree pruning, just a lover of the pears.
Hate to think of any of 'em not being enjoyed.
IF you don't already have something to reach them.
I used to use a potato hoe, with a -large- plastic cup, duct taped to the handle.
Tape the cup about 5~6 inches from the tines (you may need to adjust the distance), to be fruit catcher.
Then you stuff the end of the hoe handle into a pvc pipe
and run a little duct tape to hold things together.
If you have a pool cleaning rod, you might do something similar?

 

[ropensaddle]

Thanks for your words of wisdom. Just wondering if I might be too late for this year as buds are now beginning to show.

Are they greening up ? if so do after first hard freeze next season or late fall! If the buds are not swelling and greening then prune them now and catch the seasons flurry of growth !

 

[BC WetCoast]

I'm just north of you, and I won't prune my pear until the end of Feb, or whenever it's not raining on the weekend.

Fireblight isn't that big a problem, you will probably have more problems with pear trellis rust, which is a fungus that alternate hosts between pears and junipers. It shows up as little pointy bumps on the leaves, reduces growth, but doesn't do a lot of other damage.

 

[rflegel]

Thanks for the additional replies. I’m too late for this season so will need to wait until next year.

You have all been very helpful!