Asian pear care guide: when & how to prune, fertilize and spray

When: 2–8 weeks before the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Mar 15 – Apr 26
• zones 6–7: about Feb 18 – Apr 1
• zones 8–10: about Dec 31 – Feb 11

Opens the canopy and renews spurs, while removing fire blight cankers before spring.

1. Look for dark, sunken cankers and cut them out 12 in (30 cm) below the visible edge. Disinfect pruners between cuts.
2. Train to a modified central leader or open center with well-spaced scaffolds.
3. Spread upright young branches to 45–60° with spreaders or ties instead of cutting them.
4. Remove water sprouts, suckers and crossing branches. Thin crowded, older spurs so each has room.
5. Remove no more than 20–25% of the canopy.

Tools: Bypass pruners, Loppers, Pruning saw, Rubbing alcohol

When: 5–8 weeks after the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Jun 14 – Jul 5
• zones 6–7: about May 20 – Jun 10
• zones 8–10: about Apr 1–22

Trees set far more fruit than they can size up. Thinning gives bigger, better-tasting fruit, prevents broken branches and stops the tree alternating between heavy and empty years.

1. Wait until after the natural 'June drop', when fruit is about marble to walnut size.
2. Twist or snip off fruit so the survivors are spaced 6–8 in (15–20 cm), one fruit per cluster. This step matters more for Asian pears than for almost any other fruit apart along the branch.
3. Remove the smallest, damaged or misshapen fruit first.
4. It feels wasteful, but you'll harvest about the same weight of much better fruit.

When: 12–16 weeks after the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Aug 2–30
• zones 6–7: about Jul 8 – Aug 5
• zones 8–10: about May 20 – Jun 17

Water sprouts (vertical shoots) shade the fruit and waste energy. Pruning them in summer causes less regrowth than pruning in winter.

1. Snap or cut off upright, whip-like shoots growing straight up from main branches.
2. Remove root suckers at the base.
3. Keep it light. Summer pruning should remove less than 10% of the leaves.

When: from 2 weeks before to 2 weeks after the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Apr 26 – May 24
• zones 6–7: about Apr 1–29
• zones 8–10: about Feb 11 – Mar 11

A light feeding supports heavy cropping without the soft growth that invites fire blight.

1. Spread a balanced or tree fertilizer around the drip line at the label rate and water it in. Skip it if shoots grew more than 18 in (45 cm) last year.

What to use: 🌿 Organic tree & shrub food (e.g. Espoma Tree-tone 6-3-2) · 🌿 Finished compost or composted manure · Fruit tree spikes or 10-10-10 granular

When: 2–6 weeks before the last spring frost.

• zones 3–5: about Mar 29 – Apr 26
• zones 6–7: about Mar 4 – Apr 1
• zones 8–10: about Jan 14 – Feb 11

Smothers overwintering pear psylla, mites and scale before they hatch. It's the lowest-toxicity insect control you can do all year.

1. Pick a calm, dry day between 40°F and 70°F (4–21°C) with no freeze forecast for 24 hours.
2. Mix the oil at the label's dormant rate.
3. Coat every branch, crotch and bark crevice until it drips.
4. Spray before buds open. Oil on tender green tissue can burn it.

What to use: 🌿 Horticultural / dormant oil (e.g. Bonide All Seasons Oil)

Caution: Don't use within 2 weeks of a sulfur spray. Don't spray blue spruce or other blue conifers; oil strips their color.

When: from 2 weeks before to 1 week after the last spring frost, then every 1 weeks (2 times a season).

• zones 3–5: about Apr 26 – May 17
• zones 6–7: about Apr 1–22
• zones 8–10: about Feb 11 – Mar 4

Fire blight enters through open blossoms in warm (above 65°F/18°C), humid weather.

1. When blossoms are open in warm, humid weather, spray low-rate copper or a Bacillus biological. Repeat in 5–7 days if conditions persist.

What to use: 🌿 Copper fungicide (e.g. Bonide Captain Jack's Liquid Copper) · 🌿 Bacillus-based biofungicide (e.g. Serenade or Cease)

When: 2–6 weeks after the first fall frost.

• zones 3–5: about Oct 15 – Nov 12
• zones 6–7: about Nov 8 – Dec 6
• zones 8–10: about Dec 15 – Jan 12

Voles and rabbits girdle young fruit tree trunks under snow, and winter sun can split bark (sunscald).

1. Wrap the lower 18–24 in (45–60 cm) of young trunks with a plastic spiral guard or hardware cloth.
2. Pull mulch back from the trunk so voles have nowhere to hide.
3. Optionally paint the trunk with diluted white latex paint (50:50 with water) to prevent sunscald.

When: 6–12 weeks before the first fall frost.

• zones 3–5: about Jul 9 – Aug 20
• zones 6–7: about Aug 2 – Sep 13
• zones 8–10: about Sep 8 – Oct 20

Asian pears ripen on the tree. Unlike European pears, they don't soften or improve after picking.

1. Pick when the skin turns from green to its ripe color (golden, russet or yellow-green), the fruit smells sweet, and a taste test is crisp and juicy.
2. Lift and twist gently. Handle carefully: they bruise easily despite their crunch.
3. Store in the fridge for weeks to months.