Is a pear tree worth it?

[More basil]

As an old gardener said to me recently- grow pears for your heirs !

Having said that, even in my native Denmark you can get good crops and a sun warm juicy pear is worth a wait. Espalier seem to do better and look great against a wall.

Do check pollination groups as mentioned above. Here's a link that with good pairing and some self fertile varieties.

https://www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/gard...ion-pear-trees

[Hereford fruit grower]

As per earlier posts, I'd say plant as many pears as you can eat, and plan the varieties to give fruit from July to January. That's what I did. But I'd check shelter and check the soil; quince rootstocks seem happy in quite sticky soils but might not like sandy ones.

Many pears were bred in Belgium or France 100-200 years ago. Since then, the climate has warmed up a lot. England is almost the new France.

So what used to be pretty difficult might now be easier. That's been my experience since 2013; pears crop as heavily as apples and don't get as many diseases which is useful if you're not spraying.

Durham or Glasgow are a lot further north. But have you looked at Bernwode's Nursery in Bucks.? They have over 70 pears, including some which are easier to grow in northern climates. It might be possible to plant 'normal' pears on a wall too.

I agree frost is an issue but some years a hard frost can occur after a particular fruit has set. This happened to me in 2017 with apricots. They'd set fruit by then and the fruit was 3-5 mm across. It survived a very bad frost; well, enough of it survived to give a good crop. (If too much fruit sets, you have to thin it.)

[Guest]

I have a William that fruits well and even better if it is not in competition with the rapeseed crop at flowering time. My Dad has a young tree that has always fruited well and I don't think there are any other pears near by (possibly a Comice). If you like pears than I would say it is worth growing them.

[nickdub]

I have a William that fruits well and even better if it is not in competition with the rapeseed crop at flowering time. My Dad has a young tree that has always fruited well and I don't think there are any other pears near by (possibly a Comice). If you like pears than I would say it is worth growing them.

Williams Bon Chretien is partially self-fertile, but you'd generally get more fruit from it if planted with another suitable variety.

[ESBkevin]

We have two desert and one cooker tree all espalier apple (third season now). Last year we had a bumper pear harvest from the one espalier pear which easily outweighed all the apples from the three of them! What that probably says is that I'm crap at growing apples, but small victories make me feel better.

[Guest]

Williams Bon Chretien is partially self-fertile, but you'd generally get more fruit from it if planted with another suitable variety.

the Williams is some 40 years old possibly a seedling, the 20 odd year old concorde has always struggled and gave up the ghost last summer, I have planted out Buttira and Santa Maria this winter. I have a grafted unknown and the possible comice in the nursery section. I also have wild pears planted in the foragers hedge but I have only been here 5 years so things are getting there. Two winters now I have also tried grafting 6 old unknown varieties various ways (various rootstocks, double grafts and existing trees) but only 1 has taken.

Thank you for your advice

[nickdub]

You're welcome - sounds like the pear harvest in years to come will be a sight to behold - may be some perry making ?

[nickdub]

We have two desert and one cooker tree all espalier apple (third season now). Last year we had a bumper pear harvest from the one espalier pear which easily outweighed all the apples from the three of them! What that probably says is that I'm crap at growing apples, but small victories make me feel better.

Some trees take longer than others to come into fruit, but if they flower OK but still fail to set properly, there could be a pollination problem with the apples.