Broken pear tree advice

[ToddG]

I was sawing down a pine tree and it rolled and fell on my 4 leaf Kieffer pear tree. It broke off the central leader but I still have about 5 ft of tree with 4 or 5 limbs I pruned the broken part down to the nearest limb. Anything else I should. Do you think it will survive. I feel so stupid. It was 15ft tall.
Thanks

 

[chickenlittle]

Stuff happens. It should bounce back and do fine. I'm not sure pruning it down farther was the best thing but depends on what shape it was in. You have a good root system that will help push plenty of buds next year. Choose one of them to be the new leader. In 2-3 years, it may be hard to tell it was damaged.

 

[ToddG]

i only had to saw it down about 6" from the damage to get to a limb. I'm hoping that will end up being my central leader

 

[CrazyEd]

You will be fine. I have a tree at home it has had a rough life. Our puppy chewed up year 1 because I didn't fence it. It kept growing, the next year deer eat it. Finally I fence it. It grows great all season then late summer th top busted off in a high wind. I let it grow back, the leader had a huge bend in it, grew another full season, it looked awful but kept on growing. This year I cut the top off again and grafted 2 new leaders, one is taking off pretty well and grew 12" this season. It should sky rocket the next 2 years. Long story apple trees I find to be very resilient. If you don't like what grows back, graft something and manage it back into place the way you want it. Minor setback and in 2-3 years you never know it happened.

 

[Tap]

I might think about sealing the cut with tree dressing.

 

[yoderjac]

Yep, other than sealing the cut and making sure it is at an angle, there is not much to do. At 15 feet tall, unless recently planted, it likely has a well established root system and will likely bounce back quickly.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[ToddG]

Yep, other than sealing the cut and making sure it is at an angle, there is not much to do. At 15 feet tall, unless recently planted, it likely has a well established root system and will likely bounce back quickly.

Thanks,

Jack

Didn't realize I needed to make the cut at an angle. I will go back tomorrow and do that. Thanks

 

[yoderjac]

The purpose of cutting it at an angle helps keep water from settling and soaking in. It is just a best practice. The smaller the wound, the less important it is, but in general, if I'm making a pruning cut, I'll pick a bud that I want to form a branch and cut at an angle so the top of the cut is just above the bud.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[ToddG]

Thanks for the help everyone.