PEARS SEASON BY SEASON

This month fruit expert David Patch sets out to show that with the right approach, pears are not as espoused by some a tricky fruit to grow

- David Patch

Pears have a bit of a bad reputation. While almost everyone would welcome the thought of an apple tree or a good old Victoria plum in their garden, mention growing pears to even quite experienced gardeners and you will sense.

the immediate note of hesitancy. "Tricky to grow", "take an age to start producing fruit", "isn't pollination a nightmare?", "hard to ripen - they're either rock hard or turn instantly to mush" - as if they were a petulant and sulky teenager, slightly less than unwelcome at a family gathering.

There may be grain of truth in some of this, but nothing that a little knowledge and application can't remedy, so let's examine a year of growing pear trees so we can dispel the myths, tackle any issues and rehabilitate this orchard rebel.

SPRING

Pear blossom is magnificent - in April the trees can be absolutely smothered with pure white flowers, the match of any ornamental cherry. Pear trees can take a year or two longer than other orchard fruit to start to produce flowers, but there are a few ways we can speed up the process. The main way is to only feed with a high-potash fertiliser from the first year and at regular monthly intervals from March onwards. Avoid any plant feed which has much nitrogen in it, as this encourages growth instead of flower and fruit.

Also remember that the more dwarfing the rootstock, the quicker the tree comes into production - trees on a dwarfing stock such as Quince C will fruit several years ahead of a tree on a vigorous stock such as 'Pyrodwarf' or 'Seedling' Pear. Regular summer pruning will also help get your trees into production as quickly as possible (see below).

Pears blossom relatively early in the year, so can be damaged by frosts or cold, windy weather which stops insects from being active.