Have you ever wondered how to grow pear trees for your home garden setting? A lot of people love the idea of having pear trees at home because of several good reasons. The trees have naturally beautiful and gorgeous blossoms, you can grow them in a small spot or area, and they don’t require a lot of things for the maintenance. Do you know that pear trees are basically similar to apple trees in terms of hardiness and toughness? The trees are also resistant to disease and pests.

Planting the Tree

The knowledge about how to plant pear trees is crucial if you want to have them at home. Keep in mind that pear trees like cool weather. As a part of the knowledge about how to grow pear trees, you should know that the best timeline to plant the young trees should take place during fall months, within the late winter, or during the early spring. These are the times when the young trees are dormant, so they will do well during the growth period.

What steps should you take?

  • Pick a spot and prepare it. The trees love full sun, so choose an area that gets 6 hours of full sun exposure each day. They like rich and well draining soil containing organic matter that shouldn’t have too much nitrogen. The trees only need enough nitrogen; not too much. If they get too much, they would be prone to fire blight disease.
  • Make sure you plant two trees (at least) which is handy for cross pollination. This is done to generate fruit. That’s why you need to pick a spot that can accommodate two adult and mature trees. The trees with standard size need around 20 feet of space, at least. The semi dwarf needs 12 feet, and the dwarf types need 8 feet, minimum.
  • Prepare and be ready with the sapling. If the pear sapling has been planted within a container or wrapped in ball and roots burlap, you won’t need to prepare or do anything for the tree. However, if you are dealing with the bare root tree, you need to soak those roots in a water bucket for 6 hours so the roots will have enough to drink.
  • Roots placement within a hole. The trunk’s soil line should be placed in line up with the hole’s surface line. If the sapling is the grafted type, then the graft union must be placed above the surface. If the sapling is in the ball and burlap type, you need to place the root within the hole, along with the burlap still wrapping around it. It will protect the root while you deal with the tree’s position. After you are set with the placement, you can tear the burlap and remove the wrapping.

Your Next Move

The steps about how to grow pear trees haven't stopped there. You still need to do a lot of things.

  • You need to spread the roots, so you can encourage those roots to develop and grow out. Spread them gently and then adjust their positions. Don’t bend them too much.
  • Afterwards, you need to fill up the hole. Add soil and also compost. Make sure that the soil gets to the trees’ root system. You can also add mulch’s top layer, spreading it around that particular tree so it will keep the moisture intact while deterring weeds at the same time. But make sure to avoid the trunk because it will cause the wooden part to rot.
  • Don’t forget to water it out. You can help the tree to settle into itself to the new situation and home by watering the tree thoroughly.

How to Care for It

Caring for the tree isn’t difficult, but you need to pay attention to some of these things:

  • Proper watering. You need to water the trees weekly only for the first year, or even two. But when it’s already mature, you don’t need to water it often. Only a little should be enough.
  • Minimum pruning. When compared to other fruit trees, the pear trees need only a little. Just do a very minimum pruning and you are good to go.
  • Enough fertilizer. Pear trees will grow in the most satisfying way when they get enough fertilizer. Just do it once a year, especially during early spring time. Go with the ones that don’t have high levels of nitrogen.

One sign to know whether you don’t give enough fertilizer or if you give too much is the leaves. If they are turning yellow (especially in the summer months), it means that your pear trees don’t get enough fertilizer. You should add more for the following year. Those are some of the basic facts about how to grow pear trees.