How to
Grow Pears

Pear trees are normally available as bare rooted or containerised plants that are young (up to five years old) and trained by the growers to grow well and develop maximum harvests. Depending on how you receive your plant will determine in which season to plant it.

Choose a site which is well-drained and in a position which benefits from good sunlight. Avoid planting in a part of the garden that is a frost pocket - opened flowers and fruitlets are susceptible to frost damage. Also, avoid planting in an exposed or windy position as pears hate winds, especially cold easterly ones. If growing in a windy site ensure there is a good wind-break nearby.

Avoid planting near larger or overhanging trees. To reduce the possibility of carrying over any dormant disease, do not plant where an old fruit tree has recently been removed. If your garden or allotment is visited by rabbits, then adequate protection must be given to the tree trunks using wire netting or plastic tree guards.

Incorporating bulky compost and/ or manure into the soil before planting will increase nutrient levels in the soil and give the young pear tree a good start.

Pear trees will produce flowers and fruit any time up to five years. Until they flower, feed with a general purpose fertiliser that you can add to water. Once the tree starts to flower, change this to a feed high in potash, like tomato food, which encourages good flowering and fruiting.

In the first year of planting, water generously. A good rule of thumb is to water to the point of creating a small pool around the stem. Let this absorb into the ground and repeat. Water morning and evening in times of drought, and one or the other during wet periods.

Pears dislike and tolerate drought much less than apples. So bear this in mind with your watering regime, watering mornings and evenings especially in the flowering/ fruiting season.

It’s good to add a mulch after planting which conserves water in the soil.

As the tree grows, you’ll want to keep it healthy and free from disease. Just prune out dead, damaged or diseased stems as you notice them, and once the tree has grown more than five or six main stems from the central trunk you can remove any stems that cross over others or are growing into the centre of the tree.

You want to attain an overall framework of branches that are outward growing so the centre of the tree is nice and airy. This prevents diseases building up.

You may find that pears produce lots of fruit one year and then a lot less the following year. This is because pears are more prone to biennial bearing. You can either live with this, and plan it into your harvesting expectations or encourage a more consistent yearly harvest by rubbing out buds from the stubby fruiting stems (spurs) on high-yielding years.

Harvest a number of pears daily, rather than a glut less often, picking the fullest and most coloured fruits. Remove by twisting the pear first and then tugging gently. Pulling pears off the tree forcefully may damage remaining stems, and buds that will develop fruit next year.

Pears don’t store as well as apples. You can store for up to a month in a cool, dry place, but after that they lose flavour and are prone to rot quicker than apples.

Inspect pears regularly and remove pears that are rotten or rotting, to avoid spread.