GET GROWING PEARS
Pears have a bit of a bad reputation. While almost everyone would welcome the thought of an apple tree or a good old Victoria plum in their garden, mention growing pears to even quite experienced gardeners and you will sense the immediate note of hesitancy. “Tricky to grow”, “take an age to start producing fruit”, “isn't pollination a nightmare?”, “hard to ripen – they're either rock hard or turn instantly to mush” – as if they were a petulant and sulky teenager, slightly less than unwelcome at a family gathering.
There may be grain of truth in some of this, but nothing that a little knowledge and application can't remedy, so let's examine a year of growing pear trees so we can dispel the myths, tackle any issues and rehabilitate this orchard rebel.
SPRING
Pear blossom is magnificent – in April the trees can be absolutely smothered with pure white flowers, the match of any ornamental cherry. Pear trees can take a year or two longer than other orchard fruit to start
