'Pears for your heirs'

[frozenthunderbolt]

depending on how old it was when planted then 3-7 years seems reasonable, that said, if it is flowering prolifically, it may just be wanting a pollinator

[marshlander]

Pears blossom earlier than apples and are more likely to be trashed by frost. They also prefer a sheltered spot.

[Millymollymandy]

Are there any other pear trees in the vicinity? When you say the fruit don't make it to full size do you mean they actually start forming into little pears, indicating they have been pollinated, then drop off the tree later whilst still small, or during the June drop, or what? It would help to give advice if we knew if the fruit was pollinated or not.

In my experience frost during blossoming doesn't stop fruit forming as we have frost all the time when some of our fruit is in blossom. Rain stops fruit being pollinated as insects don't come out to play!

[Millymollymandy]

hmmmmmmm I don't really know then, other than a certain amount of fruit does just drop off all during the season, but obviously if you've got a mature tree with lots of fruit you wouldn't really notice. I've been watching my pear trees in recent years because we haven't been very lucky with them and last year was the first time we got one bunch of blossom flowers on one of the trees (after 4 years!), but out of the 6 or so pears that formed in that bunch we actually managed to get two edible pears!!! This year it is loaded with fruit so I'm hoping for a decent harvest, as last year was pants for pears etc anyway. Maybe you'll just have to give it time - from having watched all my fruit trees in the 4.5 years we've been here every year is completely different and some years are good and some are bad, not necessarily for everything though - could be good for one thing and bad for another. Tree fruit seems to be rather complicated compared to veggies!

[Rohen]

Friends of mine who have a pear tree have borrowed netting this year

Apparently the squirrels take the lot most years

I would film the tree and see if the pears are being nicked by the wildlife before they ripen

[Millymollymandy]

I didn't know they took fruit - the red ones nicked most of my walnuts, which I wouldn't mind if they'd eaten them, but I keep finding baby walnut trees growing out of my flower beds!!!

[Prevell]

Hello SusieGee,
Do you know the Pear variety and the rootstock on which it is grafted? Mid Wales is not exactly a kind location for Pears but there are a few varieties which could thrive there. Pears need deep neutral loam, plenty of sun and plenty of water which is why we cannot grow them as well as the French and Belgians can. That is why most of the select varieties bear names in those languages.

I manage a 44 'Heritage Fruit Tree' orchard on a Nature Reserve in Bucks which I planted in 2000. Of the 8 Pear varieties there, Pitmaston Duchess AGM 1993 raised in Worcestershire in 1865 might do well at your location. This dual purpose variety bears fruit weighing 16 ounces each which soon tranforms the normal fastigiate habit of the Pear to a weeper. The closer to the horizontal a fruit tree branch is, the more fruit buds it bears so fruit thinning becomes essential. In your location I would specify it on 'Pyrus' rootstock. You might not see fruit for 6 years if you buy a bare root maiden (recommended) but your great-great-great chidren will bless you for your foresight every time they have Pear juice dribbling down their chins.