Side by side
Apple tree or pear tree? How to tell them apart
Malus · Pyrus communis
You can tell an apple tree by its oval leaf, grey and felty underneath, and pink buds that open into white blossom; a pear tree has glossy, hairless leaves on a long stalk and pure white flowers with red anthers.
Rub the underside of a leaf: soft and felty on the apple, smooth and glossy on the pear. The shape helps too: an apple tree grows broad and rounded, a pear tree narrower and taller, with more upright branches.
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| Apple tree | Pear tree | |
|---|---|---|
| Leaves | Alternate, oval, 5–10 cm, toothed; grey-felted underneath (almost hairless in the wild crab apple). | Alternate, round to oval with a pointed tip, 3–8 cm, finely toothed and glossy; long leaf stalk. |
| Flowering | Pink buds opening to white flowers in April–May (April–May). | White flowers with red anthers in April, a little earlier than apple (April). |
| Fruit | Apples; on ornamental crab apples, small fruits (1–3 cm) that hang on for a long time. | Pears. |
| Bark | Greyish-brown, flaking in plates. | Dark grey, cracked into small square blocks. |
| Shape and height | Fruit tree, 3–10 m | Fruit tree, 4–15 m |
| Site | Full sun, any garden soil, normal | Full sun, any garden soil, normal |
| Native to Belgium | No, naturalised | No, naturalised |
| Good for bees, butterflies and birds | Yes, for bees, butterflies and birds | Yes, for bees and birds |
| Poisonous to people and pets | Not known to be poisonous | Not known to be poisonous |
| Pruning months | July–August and December–March | July–August and December–March |
The best feature in each season
- Spring
- The pear flowers in April, a little earlier than the apple, with pure white flowers and red anthers; the apple flowers in April–May with pink buds that open white.
- Summer
- The pear leaf is roundish, finely toothed and glossy on a long stalk; the apple leaf oval, toothed and duller. Orange spots on the leaves are pear rust, which you only see on the pear.
- Autumn
- In August–October the fruits settle it. A pear tree often turns yellow to red in autumn, an apple tree keeps its leaves green for longer.
- Winter
- Look at the bark: the pear has dark grey bark cracked into small squares, the apple greyish-brown bark that flakes off in plates. Pear buds are more pointed and stand further away from the twig.
Where do they grow?
Both are fruit trees of garden and orchard, from espalier to standard tree, all over Belgium and the Netherlands. Their wild relatives, the crab apple and the wild pear, are native but rare along woodland edges and in hedgerows.
Which one for your garden?
- Both are good for bees, and birds peck at the windfalls. Almost every apple and pear variety needs another variety of the same species nearby for pollination.
- The rootstock decides how big the tree grows: on a dwarfing rootstock, or a pear on quince, they fit any garden, even as an espalier against a sunny wall. Do not plant a pear next to an ornamental juniper, which carries pear rust.
Did you know? Pick a dessert pear just before it is ripe and let it finish ripening indoors: pears ripen from the inside out, and left on the tree the flesh turns mealy.
Read on
- Plant profile: Apple tree
- Plant profile: Pear tree
- Apple tree: when and how to prune
- Pear tree: when and how to prune
- Identification key: the question that separates them
Also looks like
- Quince or pear
- Nashi pear or pear
- Apple or nashi pear
- Apple or plum
- Apple or crab apple
- Pear or wild pear