pruning young pear trees

 My first post so a quick intro. We moved to Somerset 3 years ago fro
Wales. The lure to the house we bought was a large garden (about 3/
acre). The downside was that the house had been virtually uninhabite
for 12 years and the garden very neglected. In addition, we are ver
much novice gardeners. We've spent the last 3 years weeding, clearing
and planting a number of shrubs and trees.

That's the intro. Now to my question. Two of the trees we planted ar
pear trees. I ordered them from the Good Housekeeping magazine an
planted them in February (I think!). Both trees are doing well
Essentially they resemble beanpoles with numerous short shoots an
leaves sprouting all the way up. I want them to be 'bush' (?) tree
eventually but I'm not sure how or when to prune them. I've searche
the net for advice but the only info I've found seems to be abou
pruning more mature trees.

Any advice gratefully received
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jonperr
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posted via www.GardenBanter.co.uk

 Thanks for this Doug. As tumbleweed suggested - it is possible that m
trees are some strange type which might not be amenable to pruning i
the way you've suggested. Just for my piece of mind would you have
look at these pictures of the trees (not brilliant quality I'm afraid
and let me know if your advice still stands.

http://tinyurl.com/2xu9q

Cheers
Jo
-
jonperr
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posted via www.GardenBanter.co.uk

 jonperry wrote:

Another update. I've found out that the trees are doyenne du comice an
bon chretien. Apparently neither of these is self fertile. This migh
explain why I haven't seen any flowers. How do I get them to flower
-
jonperr
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posted via www.GardenBanter.co.uk

 

No - it would only explain why any flowers you may have don't set fruit.

I think you need to be patient. Sometime this year they may start to
throw out side branches, and next year, with luck, you may get flowers.
William's Bon Chretien is flowering group 3, Doyenne du Comice is
flowering group 4, which means it flowers a bit later than the Williams
and so isn't a perfect pollinator, but there is enough overlap between
the two that you should be OK.
--
Kay Easton

Edward's earthworm page:
http://www.scarboro.demon.co.uk/edward/index.htm

 
I have several books on pruning, they all say that no fruit should be
allowed to develope as it take strength away from the tree, so even if
you had any it is best to remove them.  Best wait until winter then
prune to shape the tree as you wish.  A weak branch should be pruned
harder than a strong one, if you wish them to develope equally, sounds
odd but it is so.

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