Strong winds = broken branches on young pear tree :(

[Russel Sprout]

Hi all

Just been out to assess damage from the recent and current strong winds. Most seems to have survived, but a nearby potted plant fell onto my young pear tree and has snapped two branches. The tree was planted last year as a 2 year old bare root, so is in its third year now. To be honest, it hasn't been doing as well as we hoped and was a little on the sparse side to begin with. This has just made it worse!!!

Is there anything we can do with the snapped branches to repair them or are they 100% goners?

Also, we are half temped to give up on it and replace it with a new one. I know that would mean buying a potted tree at this time of year, but with the fact it wasn't doing terribly well and now this, I'm wondering if a replacement would be the best option. Would be interested to hear what others would do.

Many thanks

Max

PS - please excuse the dodgy background. It's a work in progress!

[veggiechicken]

I took delivery of an apple tree a couple of weeks ago and one of the branches had been snapped in transit.
I taped it up with sticky plaster tape and it seems to have taken as the leaf buds are opening on the broken branch.
Worth a try and nothing to lose!

[Russel Sprout]

That's true veggiechicken, nothing to lose. I'll give it a go if I can find some suitable tape. I'll just wait for the wind to calm down first!

[Brack]

I can sympathise a little, went out today to find my fig tree leaning alarmingly. It's been without support since last July and had no trouble, I guess with its new leaves it catches more wind. I stuck a bunch of my stoutest bamboo canes in and strapped it up, hopefully it'll regrow its roots a bit stronger.
A bit of my daughter's slide had blown 40' down the garden, over the 12' pond and landed on a forsythia I planted 2 months back. It must've been windier than I thought! Although it seems to have missed 3 Chilean guava bushes, a planter full of herbs and everything else on the way.

As for your pear, my temptation would be to leave it til autumn and make a call on replacement then. If this one's been in the ground a few years it's probably still a better bet than planting anew.

[Lardman]

Take any fruit off, push it back together, splint and tape it. Check it in winter, if it hasn't healed cut it off cleanly and graft something else on

[Russel Sprout]

Thanks for the replies.

Brack - sorry to hear of your troubles. I too have been surprised (and most pleased) by the things that have survived. And while I'm gutted about the pear tree branches (and a nasturtium plant that has been snapped and killed, but will be handy in tonight's salad) it could have been a lot worse. The pear tree has been in the ground one year, and wasn't the best specimen when we put it in. It was also hit by a biblical hail storm in June last year which didn't do it any favours.

Lardman - there's no fruit on those branches. Only 5 pears on the tree in total. Any advice on how to "splint and tape" it? It's all new to me...

Thanks again

[Lardman]

That's 5 more pears than I've got

Some electrical tape will do, push the frayed ends together and bind it very tightly with the tape, giving it a stretch as you go around, it's a 3 handed job really. After that either grab some bbq skewers or a split cane place one either side along the branch and wrap again. You just need to support the snapped bit with the snag that's left on the tree whilst the branch heals.

It's the same as if you'd snapped an arm.... nature's really good at fixing this stuff.

[BUFFS]

i have used ptfe (plumbers thin sealing) tape on my graftings and repairs like yours, as you can stretch it tight as you bind it, and then tie a support string to the leader to support it, it does seal the damage if pulled taut and it is cheap to buy in any DIY store..

[devonuk]

Purely as a second opinion what I would do is cut the branches back to the main stem, which would I think reduce the danger of infection - you seem to have enough branches to be going on with. - but that's just me.

And I'd hedge my bets by buying another pear, different variety, as a friend and pollenizer for it.

It looks a healthy tree btw.