Is it worth growing a pear tree for fruit in NE England?

[d000hg]

I've heard the old adage "plant pears for your heirs" and been put off planting one. We expect to be in this house for decades so I wondered is it worth planting a pear tree? after 3 years here I already wasted 3 years and there's another adage "the best time to plant a tree is 5 years ago. The second best time is today".

I don't like hard, astringent pears so unless we can likely get nice fruit I would just save the space for an apple or another plum tree (or something like that). Any suggestions or advice? We do have a Quince tree, only because our garden centre was doing 3 trees for £20 in our first year and I thought it would be fun. Just mentioning it in case it's relevant for pollination.

[nickdub]

Doubt planting a pear tree in your area would prove to be worth it unless you can give it some added warmth like a south facing wall.


PS "plant pears for your heirs" no longer applies as that was coined in a time when most pears were grown on seedling pear stock and could take 20 years to come into fruit.

[burnie]

There are a lot of Pears in Perth, the one in my daughters garden is quite productive, no idea what it is as it was in their garden when they got the house, I picked some yesterday to stew in some wine for later.

[bikermike]

I put in two (dwarfs on quince stock) at the beginning of 2019 and got 2 pears last year and about 20 this year - I took them off the tree this year as the wind was getting up and thought they might get blown off/take the tree over. So, you don't need to wait years for them fruit.

(I am in London, so slightly different climate, obv).

I've had two that were absolutely perfect, and the rest were hard, but nice. The hard ones have been great when heated (I cut them up and put them on my porridge after it was cooked, and the residual heat sweetened them up).

You are recommended to get two to ensure pollination, and make sure they are from the same pollination groups. Commice will work, Williams are much less likely to (AIUI) as they are more susceptible to cold.

By contrast, I've had the flippin' asparagus in for over three years, pandered to it, sung songs to it etc, but if I get 5 spears in 2021 (first crop) I will be surprised.

[bikermike]

"There are a lot of Pears in Perth"

Are there ample apples in Arbroath?
Buckets of blackeberries in Berwick?
Cornucopiae of carrots in Cowdenbeath?
Dashloads of Damsons in Dunfirmline?

[ameno]

I don't have any direct experience of this (I live in Somerset), but I would have thought you would be fine with an early variety, as long as you give it somewhere sunny.

As for time to maturity, I bought a 2 year old Williams on Quince C (the most dwarfing rootstock for pear you can get) December last year, and this spring, in it's first spring, it had well over 100 blossoms. I removed most set fruit, as you shouldn't let newly planted trees fruit, but I left 6 on there, and at the end of August I picked 6 massive pears (they really were huge). They ripened 12 days later, and were delicious.
So if you buy a 2 year old tree on a dwarfing rootstock, you can probably expect fruit in its second year after planting (and it may well flower even in its first, although you shouldn't really let it bear fruit).

Williams is probably a good option for you, actually, as it's pretty early, partially self-fertile (so will set some fruit even without a pollination partner, which is uncommon in pears), and it is soft and sweet when ripe, not astringent.

[burnie]

"There are a lot of Pears in Perth"

Are there ample apples in Arbroath?
Buckets of blackeberries in Berwick?
Cornucopiae of carrots in Cowdenbeath?
Dashloads of Damsons in Dunfirmline?

Apples are mostly absent in Arbroath....................................

[d000hg]

PS "plant pears for your heirs" no longer applies as that was coined in a time when most pears were grown on seedling pear stock and could take 20 years to come into fruit.

Huh, that's interesting to know.

So compared to apples, how much extra time and sun do pears require? I could probably find a sunny-ish spot, certainly very sheltered.

In terms of pollination, pears and apples don't cross-pollinate, right? Is it possible my Quince might be a pollinator?
I don't know I have space for 2 but I could plant one nearby in a spot that would be quite inaccessible - how far apart can two trees be and still pollinate?

[greenishfing]

I am in West Yorkshire. My pear tree, planted probably 5 or 6 years ago is giving me lots of pears. My first pear tree was a hard pear variety and I let another allotmenteer dig it up and it is still giving lots of pears (conference) but my replacement (douce de provence I think) is amazing, lots of sweet gorgeous pears.

[nickdub]

A pear needs another pear tree of a different variety to fertilise it except for a few self-fertile ones like conference. Having said that a tree in a neighbours garden would do, the bees will visit both as long as they are in flower at the same time.

My final thought would be to ask around your neighbours and other gardeners in your area to see if any of them have tried growing pears, as I said it wouldn't be my first choice but then it's not my garden :-)

[greenishfing]

When I (as an allotment newbie/idiot/virgin) planted the conference tree it was a stick and I had no idea what I was doing. It now lives next door. My latest tree was chosen because I was so jealous of another neighbour with big fat bell pears. I have no doubt some of my neighbours are now jealous of me. When it is ripe the juice runs down your chin. Pears of this calibre are rare and should be treasured....I have several ripening on my windowsill. Start them when you are young!!!!!

[It never rains..it pours]

Planted a Concorde here, isle of man. Apparently a conference/du comice cross with hopefully the best of both, time will tell
Find this further north advice useful as means should work here
https://www.glendoick.com/Fruit-Trees-amp-Bushes

[burnie]

I visit the Glendoick garden centre frequently, Ken Cox is a knowledgeable gardener/writer.

[d000hg]

I popped by my local garden centre yesterday and they have an absolute glut of pear trees - I couldn't see a single apple tree but there was a whole lot full of pears, hundreds of them.
I saw only 3 varieties though - my guess is they bought a job lot very cheap:

• Conference
• Doyenne du comice
• Beurre Hardy

I'm not a fan of conference but the other two varieties sound OK and would pollinate each other as far as I can see. Given these are about a third the price of my preferred online nursery, are they decent varieties? Online there are obviously loads more varieties. I've bought from this local place before and they're reasonably decent.

[ameno]

Doyenne du comice is a late variety, which may not be ideal for where you are. You want early or mid varieties, really. Beurre Hardy would be fine, though.

Also, cheap pear trees at a garden centre will definitely be on the Quince A rootstock, as it's the cheapest. Quince A grows quite large and is not as precocious as Quince C, so may well not fruit for 3-4 years.