Top worked pears

[DrewMc]

These grafts are three years old. At what point should I cut out one graft or do I continue with two and utilize an open center?

 

[Turkey Creek]

These grafts are three years old. At what point should I cut out one graft or do I continue with two and utilize an open center?

You won't succeed at training a pear to be an open center, but it might be entertaining to try!! LOL Pears are notorious vertical growers, trying to convince them they are not is a lost cause. If it were mine I would seriously reduce the side you aren't as fond of, but leave a foot or two remaining, it will speed up the healing process for the short term. Once it has healed over better you can remove the lesser side.

 

[hunts_with_stick]

Would it hurt to leave both?

 

[PoorSand]

Congratulations on success grafts.

I second what Turkey Creek said about pears being vertical growers, at least with Bartletts and Kieffers. I don't know about other pear varieties.

 

[b116757]

Personally I might just leave them both it will just form a crotch eventually

 

[KY wild]

Training any pear is tough to very limited success for me. Cut out a little wood and tree replaces with 10 shoots, force 60 degrees and shoots up 5 water sprouts. Soon the pear is spending more time replacing wood than growing fruit maybe not worth it at least need to pick wood reduction very carefully.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Training any pear is tough to very limited success for me. Cut out a little wood and tree replaces with 10 shoots, force 60 degrees and shoots up 5 water sprouts. Soon the pear is spending more time replacing wood than growing fruit maybe not worth it at least need to pick wood reduction very carefully.

"Soon the pear is spending more time replacing wood than growing fruit"

True statement, at least that has been our observation and one of the points we brought up to the folks at one of our fruit tree pruning workshops today. Letting the pear tree mature vegetatively and start to set fruit goes a long way in helping to "open up/ spread branches" on a pear tree. Let nature work for you.

 

[b116757]

I also don’t prune my pears very much because of their tendency towards overreacting from it with large amounts of vegetative growth. Pears circle wagons very quickly when they feel they’re under attack!

 

[DrewMc]

Training any pear is tough to very limited success for me. Cut out a little wood and tree replaces with 10 shoots, force 60 degrees and shoots up 5 water sprouts. Soon the pear is spending more time replacing wood than growing fruit maybe not worth it at least need to pick wood reduction very carefully.

Same. I have quite a few kieffers and no matter what I do, everything grows straight up and normally at a tight crotch angle. I should have taken some pictures of my others with the grafts. If I had to do it all over again, I'd stick with apples and crab apples. Much easier to shape.

 

[Telemark]

I stopped messing with my pears. They grow well, and they do what they want. I say let them do their thing.

 

[DrewMc]

You won't succeed at training a pear to be an open center, but it might be entertaining to try!! LOL Pears are notorious vertical growers, trying to convince them they are not is a lost cause. If it were mine I would seriously reduce the side you aren't as fond of, but leave a foot or two remaining, it will speed up the healing process for the short term. Once it has healed over better you can remove the lesser side.

By open center I meant cut anything growing towards the middle when leaving the two grafts.