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Pruning guide · Fruit tree
Nashi (Asian pear): when and how to prune
Pyrus pyrifolia
Prune a nashi in winter, December–March, and if you like again in summer, July–August: keep the crown open, remove water shoots, leave the short fruiting spurs and shorten the new shoots in summer.
The nashi or Asian pear grows and fruits like an ordinary pear, and you prune it the same way. In winter you shape the crown, in summer you keep it compact. It bears its fruit on short fruiting spurs on the older wood: those you leave. A nashi often sets too much fruit. If you thin to one fruit per cluster in June and keep the crown open, you will pick large, juicy pears.
| Pruning months | July–August and December–March |
|---|---|
| Nesting season (15 March–15 August) | Take care in March and July–August |
| Flowering | April |
| Native to Belgium | No, planted |
Nashi (Asian pear): when to prune it?
Do the winter pruning while the tree is dormant, December–March, in dry weather and not in hard frost.
Summer pruning in July–August keeps the tree compact and lets light reach the fruit.
Cut out branches with fireblight straight away, even outside the pruning season, in dry weather.
What else to prune in those months? January · February · March · July · August · December
Nashi (Asian pear): how to prune it?
- Give a young tree a trunk with three or four main branches, and keep the centre of the crown open.
- In winter, remove water shoots, the straight shoots that shoot steeply upwards, and branches that grow inwards or cross.
- Shorten overlong branches to a bud pointing outwards, and leave the short fruiting spurs with fat flower buds.
- In July–August, shorten the new side shoots to 3–4 leaves above the base. That way fruiting spurs form, and the tree stays compact.
- In June, thin the young fruits to one per cluster: the remaining fruits grow larger and the tree fruits every year.
- Wilted, blackened flowers and shoot tips bent over like a shepherd’s crook may be fireblight. Cut well back into healthy wood, disinfect your secateurs after every cut and dispose of the prunings. In Belgium, report any suspicion to the FASFC (AFSCA).
How much to cut, and how often?
- In winter: at most a quarter of the crown. Pruning too hard gives a thicket of water shoots.
- In summer: shorten the new side shoots, nothing more.
What does it mean for wildlife?
- Summer pruning in July still falls in the nesting season (until 15 August): before pruning, check that no birds are nesting in the crown, and spare an active nest.
- The white blossom in April feeds honeybees, bumblebees and wild bees, which also take care of pollination.
- Leave a few fallen, overripe fruits on the ground: in autumn butterflies such as the red admiral come to feed on them, and blackbirds too.
- Aphids on the young shoots are cleared up by ladybirds, earwigs and tits. A tit nest box nearby helps.
Common mistakes
- Cutting off the short fruiting spurs, so there is no fruit.
- Pruning too hard in winter, so the tree produces a thicket of water shoots.
- Not thinning, so the fruits stay small and the tree only fruits every other year.
- Not cutting branches with fireblight back far enough, or carrying on with the same secateurs without disinfecting them.
Caution: Prune in dry weather and disinfect your secateurs if you suspect fireblight.
Nearby: related pruning guides
Similar to: Difference from pear · Difference from apple
Plant profile: Nashi (Asian pear) · Pruning calendar and basic rules