With the pear pear, pruning does not mean the process that used to be used to polish up defective Christmas trees with artfully patched branches. When pruning a pear, it is rather a care measure that is intended to force the transition from a shrub-like growth to the typical tree habit.
Winter is the best time to climb
Why open at all?
The pear is a garden plant that blooms lushly and requires comparatively little maintenance. However, most varieties of the pear tree cannot be clearly assigned to shrubs or trees due to their growth habit. As a rule, over the years, a planted pear tree produces several small stems next to each other, which can also branch out to the sides at a relatively low height. Since this growth form can take up a lot of the available space in a small garden, there is often a desire for a kind of topiary in the sense of a crown-like tree canopy.
The right time for the opening
Gardeners often only want to cut back a pear to form it when the plant in question has already developed into a veritable "monster" in the garden. Targeted pruning usually brings the best aesthetic results if targeted cuts in this direction are started at an early age of the service pear. In terms of seasonality, autumn and winter are best suited for pruning, as the cut is then better tolerated by the plant and branches are much easier to see even without leaves attached.
This is how you go about digging
When pruning a pear tree, the following advice should be heeded:
- select three to five healthy trunks beforehand and leave them standing
- Always cut branches as close to the trunk as possible
- Always make cuts from below
- try not to injure the trunk
- leave about half of the original plant mass
Since service pear trees react much more sensitively to severe pruning than some other plants, only a maximum of half of the original plant mass should be removed even when pruning. Start from the ground and slowly work your way up to about halfway up the pear tree. Use a saw that is as sharp as possible and always make the cuts from below on the branches, otherwise damage to the trunk from torn off bark cannot be ruled out.
tips
When limbing up in the heat of the moment, don't overshoot your target and spare the pear's leading shoots at the top. Pruning errors in the upper crown area of a service pear can sometimes not be compensated for by fresh growth for years.