Questions on My Multi-graft Pear Tree

[catjac1975]

I get a mottled look on the skin-I guess it's fungus. or blight

 

[baymule]

Peel 'em.

 

[thistlebloom]

You can prune in the summer if it's August or later. Before that the tree has too many growth hormones going to the ends of the branches and you will get a lot of twiggy sprouts at the cuts. Late winter is a good time too, and traditionally when most pruning is done.
Don't do like me and wait until the buds are swelling in the spring or you will be dealing with all the twiggy growth I mentioned.

 

[thistlebloom]

Mary, I also wanted to mention that all of that fruit your tree is bearing right now may be self thinned by the tree. It's called "June drop", and fruit trees sometimes lose a substantial portion of what has been set. If it doesn't self thin, you may want to go through it and thin it yourself to one fruit per cluster. It's still a young tree and the branches aren't strong enough to carry a lot of weight.

 

[NwMtGardener]

You can prune in the summer if it's August or later. Before that the tree has too many growth hormones going to the ends of the branches and you will get a lot of twiggy sprouts at the cuts. Late winter is a good time too, and traditionally when most pruning is done.
Don't do like me and wait until the buds are swelling in the spring or you will be dealing with all the twiggy growth I mentioned.

errrr, ummmmm, is this true with lilacs as well? As in the lilacs I am pruning drastically right now? Cripes. So.......what you're telling me is I spent 4 or 5 hours, over several different days, cutting out all kinds of water sprouts and rubbing branches and suckers, only to create MORE work next year when I get a ton more twiggy growth?

 

[ninnymary]

Heather, I sure hope it's not true for lilacs. I love the smell of them. How many do you have and in what colors?

Mary

 

[NwMtGardener]

We have 6 old fashioned ones across the front of our property. The 2 on the end are 50+ years old, and are very beautiful. The 4 in the middle got chain sawed off by the property owner/realtor right before we bought the house, so she could "get a good picture" ARGGHHH! Now those 4 have been regrowing for about 7 years, with a bagillion sprouts everywhere. So we cut out a ton of the little stuff, and where it was really tight. I swear we have more lilac branches on the ground to go to the dump than there are still standing upright!

 

[thistlebloom]

Ohhhh Heather. The best time to prune lilacs if you want to make sure you don't miss a bloom season is right after they finish blooming.They bloom on last years wood. If you want to reduce the height and aren't as concerned about the next years bloom, then it's best to wait until August and through early fall, or alternatively wait until late winter.

Don't fertilize your lilacs this year, and if they're in your lawn I would suggest not fertilizing your lawn until fall.

Sorry! I hope you don't get too many water spouts or wild growth on the tips.

 

[catjac1975]

errrr, ummmmm, is this true with lilacs as well? As in the lilacs I am pruning drastically right now? Cripes. So.......what you're telling me is I spent 4 or 5 hours, over several different days, cutting out all kinds of water sprouts and rubbing branches and suckers, only to create MORE work next year when I get a ton more twiggy growth?

Lilacs should be pruned right after bloom. You may have cut off all of this years blooms. If you have a time when the lilacs do not bloom they respond well to root pruning.

 

[NwMtGardener]

"Fertilize my lilacs" ahahaha, that's funny. Never done that! And actually I'm saying "prune" but what I'm really doing is using an electric saw to THIN them. I wasn't very clear there. The young ones are just a TANGLE of shoots. Oh and using my pruners to prune the small water sprouts. I think we'll still have blooms this year, just LESS than before! But we'll also get more light to the yard.

I'm going to put it on my calendar for next year to do this in the late fall. THANKS for all the great info, I always learn so much here, usually the hard way