Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
ited amount of technical support for growers using them in North Amer-
ica. Growers in Australia, Italy, the Netherlands, and Japan are further ahead
in developing high-density pear production. In short, do your research and
exercise caution before investing heavily in a high-density pear orchard. In
colder climates, you may find that medium-density orchards and moderately
vigorous rootstocks will be more reliable than higher density systems using
dwarfing rootstocks.
Especially for organic growers, be careful to design your orchard to allow
sustainable yields of high-quality fruit to be produced at reasonable costs
for the life of the orchard. Avoid the temptation to chase early, high yields
with a design that may make long-term production difficult.
Freestanding and palmette-trained trees on simple trellises are still well
suited to home and market orchard pear production. For a new commercial
orchard, where the climate allows, several high-density systems will likely
prove to be better investments than low-density plantings. Some high-dens-
ity systems make it easy to pick without the need for ladders and they work
well for home and market orchards, U-pick, and more intensive, grower-pick
orchards.
Freestanding Pear Trees
Both central leader and open vase training systems have long been used and
generally work well.
One difference between pears and apples is that pears have a greater
tendency to produce very upright growth, multiple leaders, and narrow
branch angles with their associated bark inclusions. It is especially critical to
train pear trees early, and you must pay careful attention to removing un-
wanted leaders and removing or spreading upright branches.
Trellises
Pears are among the easiest trees to train and they can be given almost any
shape you want. Trellises have long been used to support and train pears,
two of the most popular systems being the palmette and espalier designs
