Bought a Pear tree, help with pruning and care!

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Hello, we just got a Pear tree from Lowes, I think it's a 'Bartlett' Semi-Dwarf, will double check soon.
We planted it out in pasture in a full sun area, just a hint of a slope. We have mountainy land, so much further and it would be rock with 1ft of soil.

I'm wondering how we should prune it, it's 6-6.5ft tall, near 2in trunk. I do not want to cut it to a nub, hoping what is there I can work with. I will get pics of the tree from 4 sides soon.

What other type of Pear do we need to buy to pollinate this one? Lowes only had one kind.

 

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Forgot to see what kind it was, started raining on me.
Here are pics from all around and then up close. Red marks what I think should be removed because they are too close, rub or going to be in the way. Need to figure out which to spread and if my cut marks are right.

 

[catjac1975]

That needs a lot of pruning. You should only reduce by 1/3 each time you prune.I would leave 2-3 well spaced limbs on each side, but only a bit now and wait until it is dormant to do the rest. Th old adage is dig a twenty dollar hole for a 2 dollar tree. Do not plant too deeply. Mulch, but don't let the mulch touch the stem in winter. Mice will girdle the stem and kill the tree. Protect the young tree from sun scald with white paint or tree tape.

 

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Anyone else?

 

[vfem]

I'll add don't prune the first year of transplant and when you do prune on the second year you cut the 'lead' branch that forces it to get tall. You want to force more side growth for easier to reach fruit on lower limbs.

We did that to our fruit trees, and they really got huge over the last 3-4 years. They are now getting nice and wide and not so tall for easier picking now that the fruit is starting to set.

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Your new little tree looks very healthy. Nice selection.

Like vfem mentioned, I don't like to prune until after the tree has been in it's new home for at least 12 months. The transplanting is a very traumatic event for the tree and 12 months allows it to recover before you traumatize it again. The not more than 1/3 suggestion from catjac is a good one, too.

I only do pruning in my orchard in late January when the trees are as dormant as they get. The latest information from the Perdue Ag department says to never use "pruning paint" or wax type pruning coatings. They tell us to make the cuts so that the raw and exposed surface of the cut is angled and exposed to the sunshine but not angled so much as to hold moisture. The idea is to allow the fresh cut to dry out as quickly as possible to avoid rot. While you are pruning try to picture (in your mind) a bird the size of a Robin with it's wings spread wide (12" to 14"). You should prune to allow the Robin to fly through the branches at many different angles without touching it's wingtips on any branch. Sunlight and breeze should penetrate to the main trunk throughout the day.

I'm interested in your protective cage. I see wire going all over the place. and what looks like two cages down low. Can you explain?

 

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Planted it out in pasture, no fancy orchard for us. We have horses and sheep, didn't want them to eat it.

 

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We wanted to get an apple tree, too, but those were very tall, 9-10ft easily and they wouldn't fit in my fiance's car.

Plus, we need to figure out what types to get so they pollinate and how many. Rather have as few trees as possible.
His mother's house has one lone pear tree, no others anywhere, just open cow pastures. It did great this year, 2yrs ago, hardly anything grew and my dog used the tree as snack time and would pick his own off. That's why he wanted to get a pear tree, I guess.

 

[Ridgerunner]

You really need to know for sure what the variety of that pear tree is to decide what to cross-pollinate it with. Some pears are self-pollinating but even those bear better if they are cross-pollinated. To say much more would be a guess and I might guess wrong.

Once you determine what variety it is, you can Google it and look for nursery sites that sell that variety of pear. They usually have a write-up that tells you the best pollinators or even if it is self-pollinating. That's what I would do to answer your question.

 

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It is a Bartlett Semi-Dwarf.