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darren8

By Darren8

Lancashire, United Kingdom

Excess green shoots on my pear trees?
May be the wet & warm conditions this Summer but my pears are producing loads of weedy sprouts that won't be much use to long-term pruning, shaping & fruit production.
Should I snip them now or wait for Winter dormancy & then tidy them up?




Answers

 

I would wait. Why do it twice? Let it finish its growth spurt. Looks like a nice healthy tree to me. I guess you'd want to keep 3 of the strongest leaders for fruit production. Is that how it works? I think pruning in Winter is better for the tree - less pathogens around to invade freshly opened wounds.

21 Aug, 2019

 

Prune them now, summer prune for fruit, winter for shape.
Cut the ones you do not want to train back to a couple of leaves from where last years wood
This will generate fruiting buds
You may get slight regrowth, just cut that back to one bud later in Autumn

I pruned my apples & pear only a week or so back, training mine as sort of cordon

21 Aug, 2019

 

Thanks, mine are free-standing so it's just keeping their height down & tidying really. & being patient with young trees of course... Fingers crossed for fruit next year

21 Aug, 2019

How do I say thanks?

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