The Notorious Nativ Nurseries "Wild Deer Pear"

[White Oak]

The Nativ Nurseries "wild deer pear" was the first fruit tree that I ordered online and planted in my plot. I planted 5 of them them in 2019 along with two Dr Deer pears from Walmart and a Moonglow and a couple of Kieffer pears from Lowes. This spring was the first year all my pear trees were loaded with blossoms...However we got hit with a late frost , and most of the crop was lost. One of the DR Deer trees had 4-5 pears and One NN wild deer pear was loaded with finger tip sized up to acorn sized pears. I set a camera facing the NN Wild deer pear and they definitely eat them. They started dropping last week of Oct and as of today 12/5 there maybe a dozen left. I only have 2 NN wild deer pears in my plot now...so I'll just leave them or possibly try grafting a few Dr Deer branches on the NN pears since their pears are bigger. The First week of early Muzzleloader season my target buck circled this pear tree looking for pears...unfortunately I felt he was out of range about 150 yards ,just my luck the camera didn't take a picture either . If it had been regular rifle season I would have taken the shot. Regardless it was still cool to watch the biggest buck I had on camera all year, drawn in to a tree I planted just for this purpose . I know there are much better pears out there (but at least it's not a total dud ), I will be adding to my plot a Gilmer Christmas , Wildlife pear , and a Yates Apple from The Wildlife Group spring of 24'.

 

[b116757]

I ordered the late drop pear package last year from Wildlife group seen to be doing ok they did ship me a few free trees to boot

 

[White Oak]

I ordered the late drop pear package last year from Wildlife group seen to be doing ok they did ship me a few free trees to boot

I've heard good Things about The Wildlife Group...BUT I didn't go crazy. I just got 3 Wildlife pears, 2 Gilmer Christmas pears and a Yates apple tree to try.

 

[gunfun13]

Anyone know why NN dropped the wild deer pear? I assume some were growing out with some Bradford genetics?

 

[White Oak]

Anyone know why NN dropped the wild deer pear? I assume some were growing out with some Bradford genetics?

That's what I heard...they were grown from seed and some had Bradford genetics. If they could graft and sell that tree it would be a winner. The pears were supposed to get "golf ball sized" My biggest were about the size of a acorn, BUT we had a drought this year. I'm hoping with more rain and as the tree gets older the pears will be closer to golf ball size , but I'm not holding my breath...

 

[Skye King]

Ok, how about some advice? I have a pear tree in my yard that produces copious anounts of fruit and I am thinking about rooting some cuttings. I know it will take some years for the new trees to produce but will it be worth the effort. Should I just order some trees from a nursery?

 

[The Fishman]

Bradford is a cultivar of Pyrus calleryana or callery pear so it is the callery genetics (lots of small pears) that are problematic. Callery pears are extremely invasive because birds will eat the small fruit and poop the seeds out everywhere. It looks like you have some other good pear selections. I would suggest cutting the Native Nursery wild deer pears that produce small pears and grafting them over to the Dr. Deer pear or Kieffers. You could even do both on the same tree to get a longer drop time on the same tree.

 

[TreeDaddy]

Bradford is a cultivar of Pyrus calleryana or callery pear so it is the callery genetics (lots of small pears) that are problematic. Callery pears are extremely invasive because birds will eat the small fruit and poop the seeds out everywhere. It looks like you have some other good pear selections. I would suggest cutting the Native Nursery wild deer pears that produce small pears and grafting them over to the Dr. Deer pear or Kieffers. You could even do both on the same tree to get a longer drop time on the same tree.

What is your experience with the Dr Deer pear?

Mine were fireblight magnets

bill

 

[Teeder]

Ok, how about some advice? I have a pear tree in my yard that produces copious anounts of fruit and I am thinking about rooting some cuttings. I know it will take some years for the new trees to produce but will it be worth the effort. Should I just order some trees from a nursery?

If you want the new trees to produce the same way as the parent tree, you'll have to graft them onto rootstock.
What I did with apples was, plant some rootstock, let it establish a year and then graft my desired apple varieties on to the rootstock the following spring. Seemed to work well. I only had 2 not take on my very first try grafting.

 

[Angus 1895]

I have one wild pear from Willis orchards that survived. It looks great!

What pear tree should I get to plant near it. I live in zone 5 A but it’s at 5000 feet, lots of late frosts.

pH of 7.3 and heavy almost clay like soil.

Thanks

 

[Skye King]

If you want the new trees to produce the same way as the parent tree, you'll have to graft them onto rootstock.
What I did with apples was, plant some rootstock, let it establish a year and then graft my desired apple varieties on to the rootstock the following spring. Seemed to work well. I only had 2 not take on my very first try grafting.

I guess that I just need to buy some trees plant them and do some grafting after a year. Any recommendations about where to get trees?

 

[Teeder]

I guess that I just need to buy some trees plant them and do some grafting after a year. Any recommendations about where to get trees?

I like Blue Hill, but they are semi local to me so that has weight in my decision.

 

[White Oak]

Ok, how about some advice? I have a pear tree in my yard that produces copious anounts of fruit and I am thinking about rooting some cuttings. I know it will take some years for the new trees to produce but will it be worth the effort. Should I just order some trees from a nursery?

I'm far from a expert BUT if you want the exact tree, you should try grafting some

What is your experience with the Dr Deer pear?

Mine were fireblight magnets

bill

I think my two Dr Deer's have been in the ground since 2019 or 2020 , they were potted trees from Walmart. So far no signs of Fireblight, Spring of this year was the first time both trees were loaded with blossoms , However we got a late frost and I ended up only getting 4-5 pears, they were good sized though. Time will tell, I planted them in a low lying area , so if they never produce I have nobody to blame but myself.

 

[White Oak]

Ok, how about some advice? I have a pear tree in my yard that produces copious anounts of fruit and I am thinking about rooting some cuttings. I know it will take some years for the new trees to produce but will it be worth the effort. Should I just order some trees from a nursery?

I've never tried it myself, but your best bet would be to just order some rootstock for pears and then graft your cuttings onto that. I'm sure somebody on here can direct you to a rootstock seller or if they have a few extra pear rootstock maybe send you a few if you cover shipping . Since you live in the south...if you want to buy more trees look into The Wildlife Group and Hallman farms , or Chestnut hill outdoors

 

[White Oak]

I guess that I just need to buy some trees plant them and do some grafting after a year. Any recommendations about where to get trees?

I did a quick search and found this place maybe buy 5 or 10 rootstocks to try your hand at it. There could be other places that sell them as well , good luck. https://www.cumminsnursery.com/buy-trees/product-detail.php?type=rootstock&id=20944

 

[The Fishman]

What is your experience with the Dr Deer pear?

Mine were fireblight magnets

bill

Even though I have had four in the ground in south Louisiana since 2019, I am not sure how they are doing. The trees themselves have grown fairly well, but we keep getting late freezes that kill the blooms. This past February was warmer than March. Everything started blooming in February and that freeze in early March killed the blooms. I think I had one pear. I haven't noticed fire blight too bad, but I have had to trim a couple of blackened branches off the trees although I cannot say for certain if the branches were on the Dr. Deer pear or the Thanksgiving pear that Chestnut Hill sold. I used scions from pruning this year to graft to another four that I will put in the ground later this month.

 

[White Oak]

The Deer are still looking for pears under the NativNurseries "wild deer pear" in Dec . They were only marble to acorn sized , but I guess it's better than nothing when you are hungry. I'll be adding some Wildlife Group Gilmer Christmas and wildlife pears to my plot in 2024 for some more variety .

 

[White Birch Farm]

Native Nursery are completely random Callery genetics. Dr Deer is an individual selected Callery with specific desirable traits. Two completely different things.

Dr. Deer still hanging, but could unload the tree with a good shake.

 

[White Oak]

Native Nursery are completely random Callery genetics. Dr Deer is an individual selected Callery with specific desirable traits. Two completely different things.

Dr. Deer still hanging, but could unload the tree with a good shake.
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Umm yeah , live and learn. The Native Nurseries "wild deer pear" were the first mail order trees I ever bought in 2019 (I think) . I believe a lot of other folks bought them too. They were supposed to get golf ball sized and the "parent tree" they showed in the video was loaded. However Time will tell since they were seedlings and not grafted. I didn't know any better at the time....and now know to only buy Grafted trees. I do have 2 Dr Deer pears , however they only produced 3-4 pears this year and that tree was maybe 30 feet away from the NN wild deer pear.

 

[Telemark]

Umm yeah , live and learn. The Native Nurseries "wild deer pear" were the first mail order trees I ever bought in 2019 (I think) . I believe a lot of other folks bought them too. They were supposed to get golf ball sized and the "parent tree" they showed in the video was loaded. However Time will tell since they were seedlings and not grafted. I didn't know any better at the time....and now know to only buy Grafted trees. I do have 2 Dr Deer pears , however they only produced 3-4 pears this year and that tree was maybe 30 feet away from the NN wild deer pear.

It's not a problem at all. If you are disappointed by the pears they produce, you can graft another variety onto them. Do the graft as soon as the buds swell, graft low, then cut off the tree if the graft takes. You should get good growth in the graft the first year, and then it will probably only be a couple years behind the original tree.