Cut down pear trees throwing out new shoots and regrowing.

[ado]

Two years ago I cut down two old pear trees in my garden as I wanted more space for vegetables. I cut them close to the base of the trunk and didn't think that they would send new shoots out and start to re grow but they both have. As they proved to be tenacious I decided to let them re grow but I trained them in the opposite direction from where they had been growing. One of the new shoots has now started to whither with all the leaves falling off. I find this odd as the other shoot on the same stump still appears to be fit and healthy. has anyone got any idea what might have happened?

Secondly are the new shoots likely to mature into fully fledged trees and how long might they take to produce fruit again?

[veggiechicken]

You may find that the regrowth is from the rootstock which may not be a pear! Check the leaves!
I have an ancient pear tree that has suckered from the base and has quince flowers. Unfortunately, its never fruited!

[Paulieb]

Yep, if the shoot is coming from the base its almost definitely going to be rootstock wood. This may be Pear or Quince, but most importantly won't be the same as the pears before, and also is likely to not be one of the nice cultivars.

[Paulieb]

.....at best it may fruit in 4 years, but likely will be longer or as VC said, never. ;(

[ado]

Thanks for the advice. Given that it seems unlikely that I'll get pears from it I think that I'll cut the new branches down and go back to my original plan of having more space.

[rustylady]

You'll need to dig the stump out or the same will happen again.

[FB.]

You'll need to dig the stump out or the same will happen again.

Or obtain some scionwood and graft each of the suckers with a different variety of pear.
If the rootstock is quince (the leaves will tell - a picture perhaps?) then not all pear varieties will accept being grafted onto quince due to incompatibility. The incompatible varieties require an interstock stem-piece of a variety which is compatible with both.

Or just dig it out.
Actually, pruning off the new growth during summer - ensuring that it has no leaves at all from August to October - should kill it and then it can be left to rot away in-situ and contribute to the soil organic matter content like the woody parts of compost.