Out of control pear tree

[JRobyn]

Hi folks,

I have an old (~50-100yr) pear tree on my place that has had no tending in many, many years. It was almost choked to death by poison ivy vines when we bought the place. There were a number of smaller trees that had grown up around it and were sapping much of it's nutrients. After I cut off the majority of the ivy and the other trees, I found that major areas of the main trunk had rotted completely through. We have fertilized it well for two years now, and it seems to be fairly healthy and has continued to grow and bear fruit despite all of the neglect and damage. But it has grown way too tall and I worry about the strain from the height on the old trunk. Plus, the fruit at the top is impossible to reach. The attached pic is from early spring 03.

Now that is has had some time to stabilize and recover, I am thinking that it would benefit from my simply topping off about the top 1/3 to 1/2 of it's height. This should force new growth down low, and reduce some of the wind strain on the old skeleton of a trunk, right? Or is this too agressive?

All suggestions welcomed!

- Jay

Kubota L4330

 

[Typhoon]

I think pruning it would be a great idea. Don't prune it too much, just enough to relieve the strain off of the trunk. Also, I cant remember the name of the stuff, but its black and you paint it on the places that you cut to protect it. Get some of that too. Good luck!

 

[mrcaptainbob]

Try these people. They're to forestry as TBN is to everything else!
http://www.forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/board/YaBB.pl#general

 

[SPIKER]

I say yes it needs pruned that being said I have one that looks identical to you'res in the back yard of my GF's house in the city: it is pretty much a 1/2 tree with much of it being killed and rotted by ants/termites? I treated area for the bugs over the last few years and agine like you're all the new fruit bearing branches are up high and can't be reached it does have goof fruit but with out any spray the bugs get in them bad and have a lot of blemishes as I won't use ANY pesticide/biocide that is not 100% needed. (only thos ants & termites need/have to be wipped out.) the blemishes I can live with and spraying needs to be done several times pre , durring and slightly after blooms start/finish to prevent the bugs in the fruit if you wished.

anyhow try here

http://www.gov.on.ca/OMAFRA/english/crops/facts/00-005.htm (hot to prune fruit bearing trees.)

cornell U http://www.hort.cornell.edu/department/facilities/orchards/pruning.html

anyhow hope that helps. and let me know how it goes and if you find MORE or BETTER links for fruit tree pruning!

MarkM /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[frank_f15]

do u have a county extension service around you? they might be able to guide you. also i wonder if a few prunnings over aperiod of a few years might not be better, take some off the top and give it a year to stablize then take some more off. just throwing it out there

 

[SteveV]

First off, I'm no arborist. Rooky backyard fruit tree homeowner would be a better description. But I read alot, and here's a few thoughts. The trees you cut around the base are the offspring the root system sprouted up quite a few years ago. Cutting these all at once stressed the parent stem. Most fruit trees are grafted stock. Follow the live growth up from the root to see if the original stem died and the rootstock used the main trunk much the same way the ivy did. Could have been an apple tree and is now a pear because the root stock was pear. Quickest way to get a low growing yielding tree worthy of your time would be to plant a couple of new ones. Keep this as a curiousity only. Forestry forum may not have much about fruit trees but core agriculture at Cornell.edu certainly does. SteveV /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

 

[Fat_Man]

I'm not an arborist either, went to school for forestry. My wife is the backyard orchardist. If this tree has serious rot it could be a safety concern. You can kill any insect infestation in the wood but the rot is still there and wont get better. Talk to your Ag Extension Office or see if there are any Master Gardeners in your area for some real specific advice. With rot in the trunk I would suggest taking it down.

 

[JRobyn]

Thanks all!

The Cornell site had some useful info. SteveV, none of the trees I cut at the base were connected to the main rootstock, they were simply other "wild" trees that had taken root beside the pear. Evidently cutting them REALLY helped the pear, since it was covered with blooms and fruit the following spring. Of course we fertilized it pretty heavily too.

Thanks for the safety concern FatMan. This thing is out on the side of our private drive, so it sees very little human traffic, and there's little risk except for me occasionally driving by. There is enough solid wood left that it has successfully withstood many heavy windstorms, including the remnants of several hurricanes. While I'm still a little worried about the stress on the trunk, my main concern is to get good growth down lower where it's accessable.

My part of TN is too rural for a county extension agent!

I'll try some moderate pruning in late winter per the Cornell suggestions, and see how it does!

 

[ByronBob]

I bought a place and had pear, apple and cherry tree's overgrown way over my head. Waited until a nice February day and cut them almost in half height wise and the following spring the literally exploded with new branches. I would do it in the mid to late winter when the tree is as dormant as it will be and it should recover nicely.

Be careful and use safety equipment and send new and improved pictures when your done.

 

[studuster]

I have a small high density apple orchard and operate a 17 acre pear block. I would advise cutting down the tree. It is old and out of control from too many years of neglect. Most of the fruit bearing surface is now in the upper portion of the tree and it will be very difficult and time consuming (several years) before the bearing surface will be back where it belongs. Pruning invigorates trees and causes lots of re-growth if not done properly. So does excessive fertilization. If you desire to keep the tree, don't fertilize and prune hard when the tree is dormant. Remove limbs that are growing straight up. Prune the tree to a central leader and you may have to use mechanical spreaders to spread the limbs. Horizontal limbs produce fruiting buds rather than vegetative buds. I would advise planting a new tree from a reputable nursery. Stick with Bosc or Bartlett.