Pear tree pruning / training

[mrbadexample]

Hi all,

I need some help with my pear tree please - I really don't know what I'm doing!

I originally ordered an apple tree - 2-year, 2-tier espalier. I changed my mind and ordered a pear tree instead. It seems that I forgot to order the espalier, and ended up with a cordon, which I planted out last November.

It's now springing into life:



I want to train it as an espalier along the fence, but don't know how to start. Can I do anything with it this year, or will I have to wait until winter? I know I'm not supposed to let it fruit this year, but what am I looking for? I'd probably not notice until there was a pear...

I really need to get on top of this before I end up with a tree next to a fence.

Thanks all.
MBE

Oh, it's a Williams Bon Chretien.

[FB.]

If it is a cordon, is it on the semi-dwarf Quince C, or the medium-vigour Quince A?

Judging by all the blossom buds, I'd guess Quince C.

If it's quince C it might not be ideal for an espalier - probably not vigorous enough and may need permanent staking and a lot of mulching with compost and manure to keep its weak roots well-supplied with nutrients.

As for converting a cordon to an espalier......you've set yourself up for a nice project.

Firstly, if you let it fruit, you'll get very little growth, so it'll just remain a stick and probably will get stuck in a vicious circle of: "can't grow because of the fruit load, but can't mature the fruit because the fruit is sapping all the growth energy which would be used to build roots and shoots to feed the fruits".

I'm going to have to ponder the best way to reconstruct it from a cordon into an espalier.......back later or tomorrow as this one is going to be a challenge because it's a complete redirection of growth and will be a multi-year project of careful pruning.

[FB.]

OK, here's what I think:

It would have been best if pruned in December-February.
Pruning to completely change the growth form needs to be done carefully; so carefully that now is not a good time, since the tree is active.
If you prune to strategically-placed buds now, the pruning wounds may dry out so quickly that the bud which was desired to be the leader also dries-out and dies, which would completely spoil the plan.

So I would suggest:

1.
Pinch out all blossoms with fingernails as soon as possible. No pruning with clippers.

2.
Use regular and heavy fertilisation with high-nitrogen fertiliser.

3.
Keep well-mulched with an inch of compost or manure or grass cuttings, out to about 1ft in all directions. Keep it a couple of inches away from the trunk.

4.
Do not prune during the growing season or its strength for growth redirection will be lost.

Next winter, when it is dormant, correct pruning can be begun.

You will not necessarily have lost much time, since if you keep its energy directed towards growth (not fruit!), it will have built a strong root system which will be established for nect season.

-

Then, next winter, prune all the side shoots back as far as possible, to bud on the underside, to encourage outwards growth.

The topmost shoot pruned as far back as possible to an upwards-facing bud, to continue building higher tiers of branches in later years.

[mrbadexample]

Yes, it's Quince C. I'm gutted - I'm really not up for a multi-year project of careful pruning.

I'll try and look on the bright side - how about I grow it as a cordon instead?

Edit: hadn't seen your second post FB...hang on a tick!

[FB.]

Here's a picture of what I envisage for next winter (Dec-Feb)....

Prune back all side branches hard, to underneath-facing buds (probably somewhere close to where I have marked in yellow).
The top branch pruned to an upwards-facing bud, to allow building of further tiers in later years.

The red part is what will remain.

The blue lines represent where side branches should grow, providing you have fuelled it with lots of nitrogen this year, given it a bucketful of water per week and not drained its energy with fruit.

The shoots represented by the blue lines can be tied closer to horizontal if necessary to guide them (the branches will sag under weight of fruit in later years, so perhaps tie slightly upwards-angled).
In winter 2013-14 (almost two years time!), select the side branches which you want to keep for the arms. The others can be removed.

[mrbadexample]

Ok, I just need to think about this.

If the rootstock may not be suitable for an espalier, then would it make more sense just to stick with the cordon? I did want to do the espalier, but don't want to be fighting a losing battle.

FB, if you're at least reasonably confident that it can be retrained as an espalier then I'll have a go. If you think I'd be better off sticking with the cordon then that's what I'll do.

By pinching out all the blossoms do you mean remove all those bits that are sprouting? Leaves and all? Or just the flower part, leaving the leaves to grow?

Can you recommend a fertiliser?

Thanks for your help, it means a lot.

[mrbadexample]

In for the long haul then! Ok, I'll take this on as a project then.

Nitrogen feeding - weekly?

[FB.]

Remove the flower clusters. The leaves can stay; they'll gather a bit extra sunlight.

For fertiliser with good nitrogen content:
Non-organic: "Growmore" or some lawn fertiliser.
organic: fresh urine or fresh manure (not meat-eater's faeces though!), grass cuttings as a mulch.

Fertilisers were touched on in this topic:
> link <

As for Quince C being suitable - can you describe your soil?
How deep is the topsoil?
Is it fertile?
What's beneath the topsoil?

[mrbadexample]

Remove the flower clusters. The leaves can stay; they'll gather a bit extra sunlight.

For fertiliser with good nitrogen content:
Non-organic: "Growmore" or some lawn fertiliser.
organic: fresh urine or fresh manure (not meat-eater's faeces though!), grass cuttings as a mulch.

Fertilisers were touched on in this topic:
> link <

As for Quince C being suitable - can you describe your soil?
How deep is the topsoil?
Is it fertile?
What's beneath the topsoil?

I can get fresh urine and horse muck. Lawn clippings no problem - it can have them every time I mow the lawn. How often should I apply the manure? Do I just keep piling it up, or remove the old when I bring the new?

The topsoil is pretty good, I think. I guess it's a loam, as it's not clay and it's not sandy. It's about 18" deep and underneath, as far as I can establish, is subsoil. I think it's pretty fertile, judging by the amount of things that grow happily in it. Some areas have a fair amount of rubble, nails, glass & stones etc: I'm slowly clearing the junk as I find it, but I think the tree is in a good place. The garden faces southwest, and it's on the sunniest side.

[FB.]

If the soil is good, Quince C should be OK, although may not make a big espalier.

I would lightly water-in some high-nitrogen fertiliser, then cover with an inch or two of manure or compost mulch and lightly water the mulch. Then top-up the mulch as it rots down.
I would leave the old mulch, rather than keep disturbing the soil.
Light watering-in of some high-nitrogen fertiliser about once a month should be enough, but probably needs watering once a week in summer. Judge the need for fertiliser and watering by the growth response; my apple trees (admittedly on strong roots) will put on an inch of growth within a couple of days of rain and fertiliser.

The Nitrogen:Phosphorus:Potassium (N:P:K) balance of fertilisers is roughly:

Fresh manure/compost: 2:2:2 - mostly bulky organic matter to hold water, nutrients and improve soil structure. Also contains lots of trace nutrients. Poultry manure is 2-3x the strength of most other manures and composts.

Fresh urine: 11:1:1 - very high nitrogen content, but can easily "scorch" plants, as you'll see from patches on lawns where animals have been. Also has some trace nutrients.

Growmore: 7:7:7 - strong synthetic fertiliser which may lack trace nutrients (not a problem in quite a lot of soils and balanced-out if manure or compost is used).

Lawn fertiliser: 14:2:2 - strong synthetic fertiliser which may lack trace nutrients.

Fish, blood and bone: 4:7:4 - also lots of trace nutrients.

Bonemeal: 5.5:7.5:0 - often used to build roots and stems of young plants. Also has trace nutrients.

.

Keep your young tree adequately watered. Pears tolerate heavier soils than apples but will not appreciate living in a bog.

Although plenty of nitrogen will get it growing, too much fertiliser can also be bad as it can actually make the soil so rich that it pulls water out of the plant's roots and the plant suffers "fertiliser scorch"; the edges of the leaves will turn brown, as if lack of water.

[mrbadexample]

The blossom is now gone. Seemed a shame, but what must be done must be done.

A small espalier will do just nicely. I shall attend to its every whim this summer, and report back in the winter.

Cheers FB.

[mrbadexample]

Hi FB,

This is what it looks like now. Can you tell me where you'd prune to please?



Many thanks,
MBE

[FB.]

I think my original advice in posts above still applies (especially post #5).

Basically: cut it back to resemble the red "skeleton" which I showed in post #5.
This will involve taking the top off somewhere in the several inches just above the label, and shortening all the side branches to about two buds (about an inch).

This should cause the side shoots to grow strongly, and you can then begin tying those soft shoots to canes, in the positions where you want the arms to be.

Normally the canes would be at 45 degrees during the growing season (too much bending in one go may break the shoots and will reduce the vigour which is not what you want in a young tree), and then lowered to near-horizontal next winter.

[FB.]

Alternatively, prune it just above the level where you want the first tier to form.
The three buds (which are now short shoots) immediately below the cut would then form the first tier of the espalier, and the uppermost bud immediately below the cut would form the new leader which will build the upper tiers in following years.

If I had known just how much rain 2012 would bring, and how the excess rain makes things grow strongly, I would have suggested pruning it a year ago! But with warnings back then of droughts and hosepipe bans, it seemed prudent not to expect too much of a young Quince C pear!

[mrbadexample]

Thanks FB.

Now I'll admit to being a bit scared, so let's make sure I get this right.

I take all the side shoots off to a couple of inches long, just after a downwards-facing bud? What do I do if there isn't one within that distance? Go further out until I reach one?

And the top - am I amputating the main trunk a couple of inches above the white label? Do I not leave any of the taller upward-pointing branches at all?

Finally, is there any reason why I shouldn't do it during this particularly cold snap?

Who was it on GQT that said "Prune it until you cry. Then prune it some more"? I think I'm beginning to see what they meant.