Tree · Rosaceae
Pear
Pyrus communis
Two pear trees paired for cross-pollination, lit by full sun, hang heavy with fruit for decades.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 4–8
40–50 ft · 12.2–15.2 m
Overview
A pear is a tall, long-lived tree rather than a passing crop. Pyrus communis is a deciduous member of the rose family, kin to apples, cherries, and plums, and a settled trunk lifts a broad crown 40 to 50 feet (12 to 15 m) into the air and stands for generations. In spring the bare branches vanish under clouds of five-petaled white bloom, and by season's end they hang with the familiar bell-shaped fruit, narrow at the stem and swelling to a rounded base.
Most pears set little fruit standing alone. They rely on cross-pollination, so a second compatible cultivar in bloom at the same time is planted close by and bees carry the pollen from flower to flower. The named varieties will not come true from their small brown seeds either, so nursery trees are grafted, the chosen shoot bound onto a rootstock of full-size pear or dwarfing quince.
The habit that catches new growers is in the ripening. European pears ripen off the tree, not on it, picked while the flesh is still firm and green and left to soften to a buttery, melting texture indoors. Fruit left hanging ripens from the core outward and fills with hard grit. Get the timing right, plant a pollination partner, and stay ahead of fire blight, and the tree asks little more.
Care
The short version: full sun on its canopy, deep soil that drains cleanly, and a second pollen-partner pear within a bee's flight. Keep young trees evenly watered, prune in the bare cold of winter to a lone central leader, and spare the nitrogen so fire blight finds no soft new shoots.
Light
Pears fruit best in full sun, with at least six hours of direct light a day feeding heavy flower and fruit set. They take a little afternoon shade, but a tree left in deeper shade puts on thin, weak growth and hangs only a sparse crop.
Water
A pear wants about 1 inch of water a week, and young trees are kept steadily moist while the roots reach down into fresh soil. Older trees pull through dry spells far better. The water goes to the ground, not over the leaves, since foliage left wet opens the door to disease.
Soil
Pears root best in deep, fertile, well-drained loam, though they will hold in heavier clay or loose sand as long as water drains away. A pH of 6.0 to 7.5, slightly acidic to neutral, keeps the roots feeding well.
Temperature
These are cold-hardy trees, weathering roughly -20°F to 95°F (-29°C to 35°C) and suited to USDA zones 4 through 8. The winter cold is no accident, since the tight buds need a spell of chilling before they will swell and break in spring.
Humidity
Plain outdoor air around 40% to 70% humidity keeps a pear content. What counts more is the air moving through the crown, because still, damp conditions among the leaves are where fire blight and scab settle in.
Feeding
A balanced N-P-K feed goes on in early spring before bud break, about once a season. The nitrogen is kept light, since a rush of soft, sappy shoots is exactly the tender growth fire blight burns into.
Pruning
Pruning comes in late winter while the tree is bare and dormant, shaping a young pear to a single upright central leader and clearing crossing, dead, or diseased wood. Where fire blight strikes, the cut falls 8 to 12 inches below the visible canker, and the blades are wiped clean between every pass.
Repotting
Pears are rarely grown in pots, but a dwarf tree in a large container is top-dressed each year and repotted every 2 to 3 years, the tired soil swapped for fresh at the same time to keep the roots fed.
Size & spacing
A standard pear rises 40 to 50 feet (12 to 15 m) tall and throws a crown 25 to 35 feet (7.5 to 10.5 m) wide, so it needs open ground well clear of buildings and power lines. Even a cross-pollinating pair wants space enough for air to slide between the two crowns.
When to plant
A pear goes in while it is dormant, the branches leafless and bare. Planting falls in early spring, or in fall where winters stay mild, and then the twigs break into white bloom in early to mid spring. The fruit swells and colors from late summer into fall, picked firm and left to ripen off the tree.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: Early spring while dormant, or fall in mild-winter regions
- Harvest: Blooms early to mid spring; European pears are harvested mature but still firm in late summer to fall and ripened off the tree
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 4–8
Temperature: down to -34°C
Troubleshooting
A pear runs into a short list of recurring troubles, and fire blight is the worst of them by far. The earliest signs show on the tender new growth in spring and on the fruit through summer, so those are the parts to watch. Match the symptom below against what the tree shows, then act before it runs through the wood.
Blackened, shriveled shoot tips curled tight like a shepherd's crook
The blackened, hooked shoots are the mark of fire blight, a bacterial infection that slips in through the blossoms in warm, wet spring weather and burns its way down the shoots. The tip curls over into a tight shepherd's crook, the scorched leaves stay clamped to the wood, and the cankers weep amber beads of ooze. Cut the infected wood 8 to 12 inches below that visible damage on a dry day, and wipe the blades clean between every cut.
Fix:
- Prune out infected wood 8 to 12 inches below visible symptoms during dry weather
- Disinfect pruning tools between every cut and remove and destroy prunings
Leaves filmed sticky and blackened with sooty mold, edges curling
Leaves that glisten with a tacky film and then blacken point to pear psylla, tiny insects that crowd the new growth and drip glossy honeydew, on which the black sooty mold spreads its charcoal coat. Peer at the fresh shoots and the small nymphs show up nestled in bright droplets. A dormant horticultural oil brushed on before bud break smothers the overwintering pests, and an insecticide enters only once monitoring shows the numbers have climbed high.
Fix:
- Apply dormant horticultural oil before bud break
- Use recommended insecticides only if monitoring thresholds are exceeded
Frass-clogged tunnels boring through wormy fruit that drops early
Fruit riddled with brown tunnels comes from codling moth, whose larvae drill into the swelling pear and cram the galleries with crumbly frass right around the core. Halve a damaged pear and the larva's winding brown track lies open across the pale flesh. Gather the infested and dropped fruit as it falls, and hang pheromone traps to catch the moths' flight so any control lands on time.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy infested and dropped fruit
- Use pheromone traps to time controls
Velvety olive-to-black spots freckling the leaves, fruit cracked and scabby
Velvety dark blotches spreading across the leaves signal pear scab, a fungus that wakes in wet spring weather and stains the foliage olive-to-black while roughening the fruit with corky, cracked scabs. The lesions have a soft, felted look, and the fruit splits where the crust hardens. Rake up and destroy the fallen leaves that shelter the fungus over winter, prune to open the canopy for airflow, favor resistant cultivars, and reach for a fungicide through the infection period in a wet year.
Fix:
- Rake and destroy fallen leaves
- Apply fungicides during the infection period if needed
Toxicity
The ripe, buttery flesh of a pear is a wholesome, safe fruit for people and harmless to most pets in small amounts. The trouble sits in the hard brown seeds, the bark, and the wilting leaves, which hold cyanogenic compounds common to the rose family. Pick up fallen fruit and prunings, and keep seed-laden cores and limp wilted foliage away from horses, livestock, and grazing pets.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Caution
A lick of the soft, juicy flesh does a cat no harm; the danger hides in the glossy brown seeds and the limp, wilting leaves. A few crunched seeds or some wilted foliage can turn the stomach, and a true cyanide reaction, rare though it is, shows as drooling and labored breathing.
Dogs Caution
A dog takes the pale flesh in stride, so the gritty core with its dark seeds is the piece to pull away. Seeds crunched or wilted leaves chewed can sour the stomach, and a large amount leaves a dog weak and panting from the cyanogenic compounds packed in those seeds.
Horses Caution
Horses swallow whole windfall pears by the mouthful, seeds and all, so they carry the most risk. A heavy feed of fallen fruit, seeds, and wilting leaves can bring on colic, and at worst cyanide poisoning marked by trembling and gasping.
Rabbits Caution
A small bite of the sweet flesh is a fine treat for a rabbit, but the seeds and the wilted greens stay out of the hutch. Their small bodies mean even a modest amount of the cyanogenic parts can unsettle digestion.
Livestock Caution
Cattle, sheep, and goats crop the dropped fruit and the drooping, wilting leaves off pruned or storm-broken branches. Those limp, wilted leaves hold the most cyanide, and a large feeding risks staggering, rapid breathing, and collapse.
Birds Caution
Chickens and other backyard birds peck the soft ripe flesh with no trouble at all. The hard brown seeds are the catch, carrying the cyanogenic compound, so the core is scooped out before any is shared.
People Ripe fruit safe
The ripe, buttery flesh is a wholesome, safe fruit to eat. Only the small brown seeds hold the same cyanogenic compound found across the rose family, so they are not swallowed as a habit.
Pets nibbling a little ripe pear flesh are unlikely to be harmed, but discard cores and seeds. The main real-world concern is horses and livestock eating large quantities of fallen fruit and seeds or wilted foliage.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
European pears turn up under a handful of names at the market and the nursery, each with its own shape, skin, and color. These are the ones worth knowing, and most need a partner to crop.
Bartlett (Williams)
The most widely grown European pear, carrying a classic rounded bell shape whose skin shifts from grass green to clear yellow as it ripens, good fresh or canned.
Bosc
Marked by a long tapering neck and skin dressed in russeted cinnamon-brown, its firm, dense flesh holding its shape through cooking.
Anjou (D'Anjou)
A short, egg-shaped pear whose skin, green or the deep red of Red Anjou, keeps its color even when ripe, so ripeness shows only in the soft give at the neck.
Comice
A plump, rounded fruit in greenish-yellow, the Christmas pear, prized for its sweet, juicy, buttery flesh.
How to propagate
Pears are multiplied by grafting rather than by rooting cuttings or sowing seed, because a named variety only stays true when it is grafted onto a rootstock.
GraftingModerate
Whip-and-tongue bench graft in late winter while dormant, or chip/T-bud in summer · Grafted trees typically begin bearing in about 3 to 6 years
Named cultivars will not come true from seed, so growers join them to a rootstock by grafting. The common route is a whip-and-tongue bench graft in late winter, the two cut faces notched and slotted together while the wood is bare and dormant, with chip or T-budding done in summer. Pear seedling rootstock throws a full-size tree and quince holds it small, though some cultivars need a compatible interstem to knit. A grafted tree begins bearing in about 3 to 6 years.
SeedModerate
Sow after 60 to 90 days of cold, moist stratification in spring · Several years
Seed is for breeders and nurseries, not for copying a favorite tree. The small brown seed is sown in spring after 60 to 90 days of cold, moist stratification to break its dormancy. The seedlings take several years to grow on and never come true to the parent, so they serve as rootstock or breeding stock.
Myths
Pears turn ripe while still hanging on the tree, just as apples do.
European pears such as Bartlett, Bosc, Anjou, and Comice behave nothing like apples on the branch. Pick them mature but still firm and let them ripen off the tree, because fruit left hanging ripens from the inside out and the flesh turns mealy and full of grit. Asian pears are the exception and do ripen on the branch.
A pear tree standing solo ripens a whole crop by itself.
A lone tree gives thin pickings. Most pears need a second compatible cultivar blooming at the same time to cross-pollinate and swell a full crop, so a pair is worth planting from the start.