pear tree shaping

pear trees tend to grow vertical, to the extreme. which is NOT whats healthy for a fruit producing tree. a tree that is spread out more horizontally, a tree that is more OPEN to the air, AND the sunlight, its healthier. but pear trees if left alone will grow all its branches straight vertical. and the crowding promotes disease from poor air and sun circulation.

so you have to train pear trees. have to push or pull those vertical branches out and down. i've been trying branch spreaders, but that hasnt worked on all the branches. some branches will continue to try their damnedest to grow vertical at the ends even if the crotch of the branch is at a nice angle. so i used old nylons and rocks to weight the outer edge of those overly vertical branches to help to make them less vertical.






looks pretty funny, but its doing exactly what i want it to do.