How to prune pear trees in winter

time

It is carried out from December after the pear tree has shed its leaves in the current year to before it sprouts in the second year.

method

First of all, based on the growth characteristics of pear trees, which have obvious apical dominance, strong germination ability, weak branching ability, and mainly bear fruit on short fruit branches, older trees and weak trees should be pruned more heavily, while younger trees and vigorous trees are suitable for light pruning or no pruning at all. Secondly, when pruning the tree, different pruning methods should be used for different types of branches.

Main branch, secondary branch or other extension branch

Mainly use short pruning, and increase the amount of pruning appropriately. You can use methods such as supporting, pulling, and hanging to open the angle of the main branches.

Branches that bear fruit year after year

Keep strong branches, cut off weak ones, and renew them in time. It is necessary to specifically prune those branches that have too many flower buds and short and weak new shoots, and appropriately shorten and thin out the dense and weak branches. As a result, when the branch groups are generally weak, heavier pruning and renewal are required.

Laying branches

If there is extra space in the crown, especially for the gaps between the main branches, you should retain as many growing branches as possible. You can adopt the method of not pruning one-year branches in the first year and shortening the flower buds in the second year. You can also cut back the branches after fruiting. If it affects the growth of main branches, you can take measures such as increasing the angle, removing straight branches and keeping oblique ones, removing strong branches and keeping weak ones, and slowing down the fruiting.

Fruit stand, short fruit branch

The fruit base of a pear tree often produces about 1-3 lateral shoots. When pruning, you can usually just shorten one and leave one, or thin out one and leave one. The pruning of short fruit branches needs to be determined based on the load of the entire plant to determine how many short fruit branches to retain and remove the excess ones. If the tree is weak, weak branches and buds also need to be removed. In addition, it is appropriate to keep the strong branches and remove the weak ones, and remove dead branches, dense branches, weak branches, diseased and insect-infested branches, etc.