I came home from work yesterday to find that my dad had pruned our pear tree! He cut off all the limbs even though it was totally healthy and still bearing lots of fruit. Will the tree survive or will we need to buy and replant a new pear tree in March?
Trees should be pruned after they fruit. Your tree may not produce for a few seasons because of this, but it will recover.
Oh my, your pear tree certainly does look like it is done for BUT I think you will find in the spring it will start showing signs of life with little green buds, it might take several years to get back to its former self.
Poor tree did get quite the haircut...while you won't know until next spring don't fret yet...most people do not prune in the summer (typically winter is the best time and only done to prune off dead stock), but there is a contingent out there that believe summer pruning increases fruit bearing next season...so read this and maybe it will ease your mind some:
Wishing you and the tree well!
Your tree does look sad but it may recover as it appears you still have some green and you may even see a few green sprouts before the season is over.
I would just watch it to be sure no disease gathers near the cuts and look for green next year. Fruiting may take another year but trees are very resilient and this may actually make your tree stronger than it was before.
Think positive thoughts and give your Dad a hug as I feel sure he thought he was doing you a favor by pruning your pear tree.
It is still time to graft/save your tree. You can ask neighbors, friends to give you little branches from a pear tree to graft your tree. Grafting can not kill your tree, and you can try a graft on each branch that has been cut or even two or three grafts on the same branch. The technics of grafting are not very complicated but you need the good instruments to do it and to protect the graft very well with products like Norwegian tar or an equivalent.
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We have moved into a house that has two large pear trees that yield lots of fruit, but have not been pruned in many years. What is the proper way to do this?
By Samantha
We just bought a home that had to be refurbished, inside and outside. We have two big old pear trees. The pears are small and discolored. At the top they're bigger, but too high to get. Can the trees be topped out?
Hardiness Zone: 7b
By Joyce from Acworth, GA
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