Pear trees need full sun to produce sweet fruit, so choose a place that receives at least six hours a day. For soil, they prefer well-draining soil rich in organic matter, but beware of nitrogen-rich fertilizers; pear trees with access to too much nitrogen may be more susceptible to a disease called fire blight. Watering, weeding, mulching and pruning will keep your pear trees healthy for years. Do not wait for the leaves to fall off before watering.
Remember that overwatering can be just as harmful as underwatering. The roots should be moist but not soaked with water. As the tree grows, the roots will go deeper into the ground and will usually not require as much watering. If it is a particularly dry season, water your tree deeply from time to time until the leaves begin to fall.
Newly planted young pear trees should be watered several times a week. Established pear trees require something close to five gallons per week. When choosing a location for your tree, try to find a well-drained area with sandy loam soil. It is also very important to keep the tree in full sunlight, as this will allow it to grow vigorously and ultimately produce the best fruit.
Be careful to avoid frost bags when planting, as they could damage the fruit. If you cannot achieve an angle of at least 60 degrees between the branch and the trunk of the tree, remove the branch. After careful selection and early training, pear trees generally require less maintenance than other fruit trees. Be sure to choose a place that guarantees at least six or eight hours of sunshine, not only for your young tree but also for your ripe pear.
You can usually order bare rooted trees anytime between late autumn and early spring, and nurseries will ship at the right time for your area. During the first year, the tree is considered newly established, which means that it is very important to water the plant. An important part of caring for the pear tree is pruning, and the first pruning should be done as soon as the tree is planted. Choose the size or shape of a pear tree that fits your growing space; remember that you need two or three different cultivars to ensure pollination and fruiting.
To ensure optimal growth in the first year, provide a 4-foot diameter weed and grass free area around the tree. Pears are usually harvested before they are ripe; they mature from the tree at room temperature from the inside out. As a rule, the period when fruit trees need more water is just before, during and just after the flowering period (about 6 weeks in total) and in the pre-harvest period. Once the tree has a mature rough and scaly bark, it is likely that neither the winter sun nor chewing animals will harm it, so there will be no need to protect the trees.
For a feathered tree (one with several branches), prune branches that compete with the leader, appear weak, or grow at a strange angle. Breaking up the soil around the tree provides space for newly emerged roots to grow into loose soil to speed up establishment. If you do not thin out, you will get much more fruits than the tree can handle, resulting in broken branches and small fruits. If you're a fan of pears, find an open space in your patio for a couple of these beautiful trees and you'll have fruit for years to come.
This is called the central leading pruning method and makes it a compact, balanced and easy to handle tree with fruit that has maximum access to sunlight and air circulation.
