Tree · Rosaceae
Pear
Pyrus communis
Plant two trees for cross-pollination, offer them sun and a little patience, and a pear tree will feed you for decades.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 4–8
40–50 ft · 12.2–15.2 m
Overview
A pear tree settles in for the long haul rather than one quick season, and that is part of its charm. Pyrus communis is a deciduous tree in the rose family, keeping company with apples, cherries, and plums, and a happy one can rise 40 to 50 feet (12 to 15 m) tall and live for generations. Each spring it wears clouds of white bloom, and then comes the familiar bell-shaped fruit you have been waiting for.
Do not be surprised if a single tree crops poorly, because most pears simply prefer company. They rely on cross-pollination, so you set a second compatible cultivar that blooms at the same time nearby and let the bees take care of the rest. Named varieties will not come true from seed either, which is why the tree you bring home is grafted onto a chosen rootstock, whether full-size pear or dwarfing quince.
The one habit that trips up new growers is the harvest, and it is an easy one to get right. European pears ripen off the tree, not on it, so you pick them mature but still firm and bring them to a soft, buttery finish indoors. Nail that timing, give the tree a pollination partner, and stay a step ahead of fire blight, and it will ask very little more of you.
Care
The short version: give it full sun, deep well-drained soil, and a second pear close by for pollination. Keep young trees watered steadily, prune in late winter to a central leader, and go easy on the nitrogen so fire blight stays away.
Light
Pears are happiest and crop best in full sun, and at least six hours of direct light a day drives good flower and fruit set. A touch of afternoon shade is fine, but a tree left in real shade will give you weak growth and a thin harvest, so aim for the brightest spot you have.
Water
Offer a tree about 1 inch of water a week, and keep young trees steadily moist while their roots are still finding their feet. Once established, pears cope with dry spells far more easily. Water at the ground rather than over the canopy, since wet leaves are an open door to disease.
Soil
Pears love deep, fertile, well-drained loam, though they will happily make do with clay or sand as long as water keeps moving through. Aim for a pH of 6.0 to 7.5, sitting on the slightly acidic to neutral side, and the tree will thank you.
Temperature
These are wonderfully cold-hardy trees, at ease anywhere from about -20°F to 95°F (-29°C to 35°C) and well suited to USDA zones 4 through 8. That winter chill is a good thing, since the buds need a proper cold rest before they will break into growth come spring.
Humidity
Ordinary outdoor air sitting around 40% to 70% humidity suits a pear just fine, so this is rarely something to fuss over. What matters far more is airflow through the canopy, because still, damp conditions are exactly what let fire blight and scab settle in.
Feeding
Feed in early spring before bud break with a balanced N-P-K fertilizer, roughly once a season, and the tree will do the rest. Go gently with the nitrogen, since a rush of soft, sappy growth is just what fire blight likes to move into.
Pruning
Prune in late winter while the tree is dormant, guiding a young tree to a single central leader and taking out crossing, dead, or diseased wood. If fire blight turns up, cut 8 to 12 inches below the visible canker and wipe your tools clean between every cut so you do not spread it.
Repotting
Pears are not usually grown in containers, but a dwarf tree in a large pot does well when it is top-dressed each year and repotted every 2 to 3 years. Refresh the soil at the same time and the roots stay well fed and content.
Size & spacing
A standard pear reaches 40 to 50 feet (12 to 15 m) tall and spreads 25 to 35 feet (7.5 to 10.5 m) wide, so give it open ground well clear of buildings and power lines. Two trees set for cross-pollination still need a little room for air to move gently between them.
When to plant
A pear tree goes into the ground while it is dormant and bare, so there is no rush and no fuss. Plant it in early spring, or in fall where winters stay gentle, and it will open into white bloom in early to mid spring. The fruit follows 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
Pears meet only a short list of recurring troubles, and fire blight sits at the top of it by a good margin. Keep a friendly eye on the new growth in spring and the fruit through summer, since that is where the first hints show up. Find what you are seeing below, then step in early before it works through the tree.
Wilting, blackening tips that hook over like a shepherd's crook
Take a breath, because this one is manageable if you catch it. What you are seeing is fire blight, a bacterial infection that arrives on the blossoms in warm, wet spring weather and then travels down the shoots. The crook at the tip, the scorched leaves that hold onto the wood, and the little beads of ooze on the cankers all point to it. Cut the infected wood 8 to 12 inches below the visible damage on a dry day, and give your tools a clean wipe between each cut so you do not carry it along.
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
Tacky leaves, sooty black film, and foliage that curls
This is a common visitor and nothing to panic over. Pear psylla are tiny insects that settle on the new growth and leave sticky honeydew behind, and that honeydew slowly grows a coat of black sooty mold. Peek at the fresh shoots and you will spot the small nymphs resting in those droplets. A dormant horticultural oil put on before bud break clears out most of the overwintering pests, and you only need to think about an insecticide once careful monitoring shows the numbers have climbed high.
Fix:
- Apply dormant horticultural oil before bud break
- Use recommended insecticides only if monitoring thresholds are exceeded
Wormy pears riddled with frass-filled tunnels, dropping too soon
Finding a wormy pear feels discouraging, but you can get ahead of it. Codling moth larvae bore into the growing fruit and fill the tunnels with frass close to the core. Slice open a damaged pear and the larva's path shows itself clearly. Gather up infested and dropped fruit whenever you notice it, and hang a few pheromone traps so you can time any controls to when the moths are on the wing.
Fix:
- Remove and destroy infested and dropped fruit
- Use pheromone traps to time controls
Velvety dark blotches on the leaves and scabby, split fruit
Do not let the spotted leaves worry you too much, since this is a familiar problem with a familiar answer. Pear scab is a fungus that gets going in wet spring weather and leaves velvety olive-to-black marks on the leaves along with corky, cracked patches on the fruit. Rake up and get rid of the fallen leaves where the fungus spends the winter, open the canopy with a little pruning so air can move, and lean on resistant cultivars where you can. In a rough year, a fungicide during the infection period gives you a helping hand.
Fix:
- Rake and destroy fallen leaves
- Apply fungicides during the infection period if needed
Toxicity
The ripe flesh of a pear is a wholesome, safe fruit for people and harmless to most pets in small amounts, so there is no need to worry over a stray bite. The catch lives in the seeds, bark, and wilting leaves, which hold cyanogenic compounds common across the rose family. Gather up fallen fruit and prunings, and keep seed-laden cores and wilted foliage well away from horses, livestock, and grazing pets.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Caution
A little lick of ripe flesh will not trouble a cat, so the part to keep an eye on is the seeds and the wilting leaves. Chewing a few seeds or a bit of wilted foliage can leave the stomach unsettled, and a genuine cyanide reaction, though it is rare, shows up as drooling and labored breathing.
Dogs Caution
A bit of ripe pear sits just fine with most dogs, so the thing to mind is the core. A dog that crunches the seeds or nibbles wilted leaves might end up with a sour stomach, and a large helping can leave it weak and panting from the cyanogenic compounds tucked inside.
Horses Caution
Horses are the ones worth watching closely, since they will happily hoover up windfall pears by the mouthful. A big feed of fallen fruit, seeds, and wilted leaves can bring on colic and, at the very worst, cyanide poisoning marked by trembling and gasping.
Rabbits Caution
A small bite of ripe pear makes a lovely treat for a rabbit, though the seeds and wilted greens are best left out of the hutch. Because they are so small, even a modest amount of the cyanogenic parts can throw their digestion off.
Livestock Caution
Cattle, sheep, and goats will gorge on dropped fruit and on the wilting leaves of pruned or storm-broken branches. That wilted foliage carries the most cyanide, and a heavy feed of it can lead to staggering, rapid breathing, and collapse.
Birds Caution
Chickens and other backyard birds will peck away at ripe pear flesh with no trouble at all. The seeds are the catch, since they hold the cyanogenic compound, so scoop out the cores before you share any.
People Ripe fruit safe
Ripe pear is a wholesome, safe fruit to enjoy. Just steer clear of making a habit of swallowing the seeds, which carry the same cyanogenic compound found right across the rose family.
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 come in a handful of names you will meet again and again at the market and the nursery. These are the ones worth getting to know, and do keep in mind that most want a partner to crop well.
Bartlett (Williams)
This is the most widely grown European pear, wearing a classic bell shape that shifts from green to yellow as it ripens and doing just as well fresh as it does canned.
Bosc
You will know a Bosc by its long tapering neck and russeted cinnamon-brown skin, and its firm, dense flesh holds its shape beautifully once you cook it.
Anjou (D'Anjou)
An egg-shaped pear whose green skin, or red on the Red Anjou, keeps its color even when ripe, so you tell it is ready by the gentle softening at the neck.
Comice
Often known as the Christmas pear, this rounded greenish-yellow fruit is loved for its sweet, juicy, buttery flesh.
How to propagate
Pears are multiplied by grafting rather than by rooting cuttings or sowing seed, since a named variety only stays true to itself 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
Since named cultivars will not come true from seed, growers lean on grafting, and it is friendlier than it sounds. The usual path is a whip-and-tongue bench graft in late winter while the wood is still dormant, with chip or T-budding done through summer. Pear seedling rootstock gives you a full-size tree, while quince keeps things smaller, though a few cultivars need a compatible interstem to take hold. A grafted tree tends to start bearing in about 3 to 6 years, so a little patience pays off.
SeedModerate
Sow after 60 to 90 days of cold, moist stratification in spring · Several years
Growing pears from seed is really work for breeders and nurseries rather than a way to copy a tree you love. Sow the seed in spring after 60 to 90 days of cold, moist stratification to wake it from dormancy. The seedlings take several years to make anything of themselves and will not come true to the parent, which is why they mostly end up as rootstock or breeding stock.
Myths
Pears are best left on the tree to ripen, just like apples.
It feels natural to wait, but European pears such as Bartlett, Bosc, Anjou, and Comice do the exact opposite of apples. Pick them mature but still firm and let them finish ripening off the tree, because fruit left hanging ripens from the inside out and turns mealy and gritty. Asian pears are the friendly exception and will happily ripen on the branch.
One pear tree on its own will give you a full harvest.
A lone tree usually leaves you a little short. Most pears need a second compatible cultivar blooming at the same time so they can cross-pollinate and set a good crop, so it pays to plan for a pair right from the start.