Pear

Pear: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Fruit tree of 4–15 m with steeply rising branches and a narrow, tall crown; as a bush, half-standard, standard or espalier.

Leaf

Alternate, round to oval with a pointed tip, 3–8 cm, finely toothed and glossy; long leaf stalk.

Bark

Dark grey, cracked into small square blocks.

Flower

White flowers with red anthers in April, a little earlier than apple.

Fruit

Pears, ripe from August to October depending on the variety.

Difference from apple

Apple has felted leaves and pink flower buds.

Flowering: April · Harvest and fruit: August–October · Pruning: July–August and December–March

Identify by feature: White blossom

Looks like it, but isn’t

• Apple Malus: felted leaves and pink buds. Difference from apple

Why grow it?

• Your own dessert and cooking pears, from August into winter.
• Early blossom in April for bees.
• A form for every garden: espalier, bush, half-standard or standard.
• A standard pear tree lives long and is home to birds, bats and insects.

Pear: where does it grow best?

• Full sun and warmth: a pear needs more warmth than an apple; a sunny wall is ideal for an espalier.
• Deep, fertile soil that holds moisture but drains well; on quince rootstock, avoid dry sand or chalky soil.
• Sheltered from cold winds: the early blossom is sensitive to night frost.
• Space: 3–4 m for a bush tree or espalier, 8 m or more for a standard. Not near a walnut or an ornamental juniper.

Light

Full sun

Legal basis

Any garden soil

Moisture

Normal

Size

15 m tall, 5 m wide

Hardiness

Throughout Belgium, no protection needed

Goes well with

• A second pear variety: Needed for pollination: choose one that flowers at the same time and plant it within 50 m.
• Pot marigold: Flowers for a long time under the tree and attracts hoverflies, which eat aphids.
• Comfrey: Flowers for bumblebees, and its cut leaves make a potassium-rich mulch under the tree.

Good and bad companions

Goes well with

• A second pear variety within 50 m, for pollination: pear

Best kept away from

• Walnut releases juglone, to which this plant is sensitive: walnut
• Passes on pear rust (alternate host): ornamental juniper
• Can pass on fireblight (not right next to fruit trees): rowan, hawthorn, swedish whitebeam, whitebeam, medlar, quince, firethorn, photinia

Pear: when and how to plant it?

1. Plant from November to March; a container-grown tree can go in all year, except in frost or drought.
2. Choose the rootstock to suit your space: quince (such as Quince C or Quince A) for a bush tree or espalier, a pear seedling for a standard.
3. Some varieties do badly on quince and are given an interstock: ask the nursery.
4. Keep the graft union a hand’s width above the soil, and put a sturdy stake on the windward side.
5. Plant a second variety that flowers at the same time within 50 m, or choose a partly self-fertile variety such as ‘Conference’.

Care

Watering

In dry spells during the first year, and later in dry summers while the pears are swelling.

Feeding

In March, some compost or dried cow manure under the crown.

Thinning

If the tree is heavily laden, leave 1–2 fruitlets per cluster in June.

Harvest

Pick dessert pears when they come away easily as you lift them, and let them ripen indoors.

Storing

Keep storing and cooking pears in a cool, frost-free place; check them regularly.

Tip: Pick dessert pears just before they are ripe and let them ripen indoors: on the tree they soon turn mealy or brown inside.

Pear: when to prune it?

Pruning months: July–August and December–March.

When: In winter (December–March), with an optional summer prune in July–August.

How:

• As with apples: keep the crown open and remove water shoots, crossing branches and those growing inwards.
• Pears grow upright: bend young branches down a little or tie them in at an angle, so that they form flower buds sooner.
• Spare the short fruiting spurs; old, crowded spur systems can be thinned.
• On an espalier: in July–August, cut new side shoots back to 3 leaves.

Caution: Don’t prune in frost. Cut out branches with fireblight in dry weather, well into healthy wood, and disinfect your secateurs after every cut.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Grafting

A variety is propagated by grafting a twig (scion) onto a rootstock in winter, or by budding in summer.

Sowing

A pear pip gives a new, unpredictable pear, not the same variety; the seedling can, however, serve as a rootstock for a standard.

Pear: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy throughout Belgium: no protection needed.

• Fully hardy; only the early blossom in April is sensitive to night frost.
• In winter, remove dried-up pears (mummies) from the tree and clear up fallen leaves: brown rot and scab overwinter in them.

Diseases and pests

• Fireblight: Blossom and shoots wilt and turn brownish-black, as if burnt; the tips curl over like a shepherd’s crook. Cut them out in dry weather well into healthy wood.
• Pear rust: Orange spots on the leaves in summer, with warty growths underneath. The fungus overwinters on ornamental juniper: don’t plant one nearby.
• Scab: Dark spots on leaves and pears, sometimes with cracks. Clear up fallen leaves and choose a less susceptible variety.
• Pear midge: In May, young fruitlets swell, turn black and drop. Pick them off and throw them away before they fall.
• Pear sucker: Sticky honeydew and black sooty mould on leaves and pears. Predatory bugs and earwigs are natural enemies: don’t spray.

Through the year

• January: Winter pruning in mild weather; remove mummified pears.
• February: Winter pruning and grafting.
• March: Last winter pruning; compost under the crown.
• April: Blossom: watch out for night frost and fireblight.
• May: Pick off swollen, blackened fruitlets (pear midge).
• June: Thin the fruitlets.
• July: Summer pruning; the first summer pears.
• August: Summer pruning; pick summer pears.
• September: Pick dessert pears and let them ripen indoors.
• October: Harvest storing and cooking pears.
• November: Clear up fallen leaves; planting.
• December: Winter pruning can start.

What can you use it for?

Food and drink

Dessert pears and cooking pears; standard trees for juice and syrup.

For wildlife

Early blossom for bees.

Caution: Host plant of fireblight and susceptible to pear rust (ornamental juniper). Most varieties need a pollinator.

Edible and useful

Fruit (August–October)

Pears are picked before they are ripe: when they come away with a gentle twist and the pips are starting to turn brown. Let them ripen indoors until the flesh near the stalk gives a little; left on the tree, they turn mealy. Dessert pears are eaten fresh; cooking pears such as Saint-Remy and Gieser Wildeman stay hard and only become good after long stewing. Also for juice, pear syrup and dried pears.

Storing

Keep dessert pears cool for a few weeks and let them ripen at room temperature for a few days before eating. Cooking pears keep well into winter in a cool, frost-free place. Stewed pears can be sterilised in jars or frozen.

Fermenting

Pear juice is fermented into perry, just as apple juice becomes cider.

Caution: Do not crack or grind the pips. Like apples, raw pears can make the mouth itch in people with a birch pollen allergy. Do not use rotten or mouldy pears for juice or syrup.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Stewed pears in red wine (Compote · 6 people · 15 min + 2–3 hours stewing)
• Pear and apple syrup (Other · ± 2 jars of 370 ml · 1.5 hours + 3–5 hours reducing)
• Pear and walnut cake with cinnamon (Dish · makes 1 loaf cake of 25 cm (10 slices) · 20 min + 1 hour baking)
• Dried pear slices (Dried · makes ± 150 g dried pears · 20 min + 6–10 hours drying)

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Birds

Berries, seeds or insects as food, or a place to nest.

Did you know?

• Orange spots on the leaves are pear rust: a fungus that also lives on ornamental junipers.
• In the 18th and 19th centuries, Belgium was a centre of pear breeding: growers such as Nicolas Hardenpont and Jean-Baptiste Van Mons raised dozens of new varieties.
• Pear wood is hard, fine-grained and reddish: prized for carving, furniture and musical instruments.
• In the 18th and 19th centuries Belgium was a centre of pear breeding: among others, the Leuven professor Jean-Baptiste Van Mons raised many new varieties.
• The slightly gritty feel of some pears comes from stone cells: small clusters of cells with hard, woody walls in the flesh.