thinning the baby pear nubs

i thinned the parker tree. all i did was thin each cluster down to only one pear. there were usually 3, but up to 5 pear nubs per cluster.

this is what 236 parker pear buds look like


parker buds


luscious pear buds, i thinned off 70 of them


luscious buds


summercrisp, thinned 70




patten cluster of 5


patten thinned 206




the patten pear nubs were quite scratched/scabbed. it happens when the nubs rub against anything, like other nub stems, leaf stems, branches, anything. and the patten tree is my littlest tree of all the four. it fruited so prolifically everything was crowded and rubbing.


patten


luscious cluster of only 3

pear tree pruning

i pruned the pear trees. there wasnt much to prune this year. the only tree that threw off a lot of wild new growth was the parker tree. the others seemed to just work on extending and thickening existing branches for the most part. but its only 18`F out there. very cold on the fingers even in gloves. mostly because i have to stand there and stare at the trees, trying to decide if the branches in one area are too crowded, need to be thinned, or if the weight of those branches when pulled down slightly will be fine. i end up circling the trees a bunch of times, standing and staring. looks like i'll need to weigh down a lot of branches come spring on the luscious, patten, and summercrisp trees. pear trees try to grow all their branches vertical. you have to work against the tree to spread them down more horizontal. ideal crotch angle is about 60`. you dont want fully horizontal 90` angles, and you dont want fully or nearly vertical either. too wide OR too narrow a crotch angle and the branch is weakened and more likely to break off. and you want the branches spread out enough so the sunlight can reach the most leaves and fruit. if you let the branches get too thick or crowded then diseases are more likely to affect the leaves or branches. all things i try to remember as i stand there staring at the trees.

Pruning the pear trees

Luscious tree before pruning and after (sorry its blurry, i cant exactly go back and take another before picture)


Parker tree before and after


Summercrisp tree before and after


Patten tree before and after


i followed the pruning advice and pictures from a book on pruning fruit trees that advises to cut the branches back by 2/3 during january or february while the tree is dormant. i suspect that these trees i planted last spring are now three years old. i believe they were two year old baby trees when i got them, but they may have been only one year old, though the Patten tree thats more thin than the others may only be going on two years. they still need to be directing their energy into good strong roots, and pruning so severely will help them to do that when they wake up in spring. i may not have pruned them enough. i'm still uncertain how much i should thin branches to form a good initial shape to the tree so that branches dont cross in the middle and stuff.

edited to add i think the advice and pictures came from this book pruning basics by david squire