pear tree suckers

[fruitylou]

Our pear tree sends out loads of suckers every year which usually just get blasted when the grass is cut, but if i left one to get a bit bigger would i be able to pot it up? I ask because i don't usually like pears but these ones are lovely
Thanks

[FB.]

Cutting suckers off with a mower or shears is is just like pruning - it encourages strong re-growth and several shoots to replace each one that was previously cut off.

As soon as a sucker is found, you should dig down to where it meets the main roots and snap it off or hack it off. No worries if the wound is tatty and messy - apparently a messy wound is less likely to re-grow a sucker.

As for existing suckers....you should be able to dig them up and use them as rootstocks for grafting new trees. It would help if the suckers were of good size and with some roots.

[Mell]

It is unlikely the suckers are of the same sort as the pears you like if the tree was grafted (most are). But you could graft some of the tree you like onto the sucker to make a second tree, but I would suggest planting it some distance from the first.