How to Prune a Pear Tree

Pear trees have a nice natural shape that you can maintain with early training and timely pruning. Pear trees do well in both warm areas and frosty northern climates. With care, your pear tree can consistently provide fruit as well as add beauty to your landscape.

Prune away any broken or diseased branches any time of the year. It's important to get these off and away from your tree so that they don't sap nutrients from the tree.

Wait until just before spring to do any major pruning. Make sure you have the right pruning shears for the job. You should have a couple different sizes of shears at your disposal.

Keep your cuts clean and don't cut so close to the branch or trunk that you gouge it. Also, when it comes to pruning, less is more. You're better off doing more training of your tree early on than pruning a great deal later. If you thinned the pear tree out last year, wait a few years before thinning it again.

Cut back any shoots that spring up around the tree. Also, trim back any branches that are aren't pointing upwards. Branches that seem to be too close to each other and causing friction are troublesome, trim on away to relieve the other.

Get to the inside of the tree. Anything that doesn't get sunshine isn't going to produce fruit. Trim away some interior branches. Your leader, or main top branch, should be solitary. Cut off any competition that has sprung up next to it. Also, watch for whorls and slender spaces between branches. Both should be pruned.

Remove any pruned-off material from the area around your pear tree. Keep the ground clear of any rotting debris. Instead, compost your cuttings or find some other use for them if you don't want to just dispose of the pile.

If you live in a warmer climate, you don't need to wait until winter's end to prune. Instead, you should prune in summer when the tree has finished its growing season.