A columnar pear can produce a remarkable yield of juicy sweet pears in the garden or as a container culture on the balcony or terrace, even in a limited space. Nowadays there are various types of pears to choose from in specialist shops, whose columnar growth is already genetically created and can be forced through regular pruning if necessary.
Pillar pears differ not only in their fruits
Columnar pears as "real" columnar fruit
In contrast to pillared cherries or pillared peaches, pillared pears can actually be grown very slender, although fruit can also form directly on the trunk of the pillared pears. Columnar pears usually grow to around 250 cm in height if they are not consciously raised to a lower tree height. A width of about 30 to 40 cm makes sense, on the one hand to use the privacy function of the columnar fruit and on the other hand to enable a higher yield through the fruit wood branching off the trunk. The most popular varieties of columnar pear are:
- Pyrus communis 'Doyenné du Comice'
- Pyrus communis 'Obelisk'
- Pyrus communis 'Conference'
- Pyrus communis 'Concorde'
- Pyrus communis 'Bambinella'
- Pyrus communis 'Condora'
- Pyrus communis 'Decora'
Some of these strains don't grow strictly in a columnar form all by themselves. However, they can all be raised to become columnar fruit with relatively little maintenance.
The columnar pear 'Decora'
The columnar pear 'Decora' is a type of pear that is also preferred in the agricultural cultivation of pears. This variety produces fruits with a particularly sweet taste and soft flesh. The fruits of the 'Decora' variety, which ripen from the end of September to the beginning of August, can easily be stored until around mid-December. Due to the tightly upright growth, this columnar pear is also well suited for cultivation in a pot on a sunny or partially shaded balcony. However, since this is a deep-rooted plant, the respective planter must not be too small or too low.
The columnar pear 'Conference'
As a typical pollinator when growing pears, the 'Conference' variety fulfills a special purpose: Since pears need pollination from other nearby pear trees to set fruit, you can use this pear variety as a good pollinator. In addition, this type of pear also has fruits that can be stored for a long time with a very juicy texture of the flesh.
tips
If lateral fruit shoots are cut back in June to a length of about 2 to 3 buds, they will develop into fruit wood in the same year.