INTRODUCTION
2015 planting and training
△ Fan-trained pear ‘Concorde’, three years after planting
In this post I document my experience of planting, training and managing a fan-trained pear tree.
This post was revised in Dec 2021
Pages in this post
Page 1: 2015 Planting & training
Page 2: 2016 Update
Page 3: 2017 Update
Page 4: 2018 Update
Page 5: 2019 Update
Page 6: 2020 Update
Page 7: 2021 Update
Page 8: 2022 Update
2015
Planting and Initial Training
If you purchase trained fruit at a garden centre they often come attached to an impressive bamboo frame (like the one below). The frame can be a real distraction because what you are actually getting – and what you need to think about before parting with your cash – is the structure of the tree strapped to it. The photo to its right shows the same tree in the nude, looking a lot less impressive. The trick when purchasing is to take note of the actual tree form, and see past the fancy-pants frame. In the case of the tree below, the shape was something I could work with, so was ideal.
To decide if the pre-trained form is suitable for your needs you need to have an idea about the final form you are after. I chose the one above because I want to create a fan and this specimen has a reasonable symmetry with three shoots on each side. If there were an odd number I would be cutting out the central one anyway.
Traditional fan trained trees have a form like this:
The one I have bought could be used for this classic shape if I cut out the central leader along with the top four shoots leaving just two side shoots, but I’m not going to. The ‘risk’ in trying to train all six shoots, rather than training just two as in the diagram above, is that the top shoots will be more vigorous, and I may struggle to train the lower ones to the full width. However, this is less of a problem with a pear than it would be with a cherry or plum, and that’s what makes pears (and apples) suitable for training as espaliers with three or four completely horizontal tiered branches like this:
So my plan is to go somewhere between these two traditional forms: a kind of espaliered-fan! There are no hard and fast rules in this game, and half the fun is seeing how it turns out. For other trained forms see my dedicated page here.
Other things to look for when purchasing pre-trained fruit trees:
- Check there are no damaged areas, particularly around pruning scars or at the graft.
- Check that all the shoots are healthy, flexible and vigorous (with good buds)
- Check that the graft is a good 4-6in (10-15cm) above the soil, and is clean and sound
I bought my pear from a local garden centre, rather than ordering it online. This has the advantage that I could check it over before purchase, see healthy buds about to break on all the shoots, plus it gave me the flexibility to buy it on a weekend when I had time to plant it immediately. Oh, and it also comes with a “guarantee for life” – what ever that is. Ordering online from a reputable nursery will inevitably give you more choice and will probably be cheaper – although savings can be lost on delivery charges unless you are ordering several trees. Another problem is that such nurseries tend to sell out in the autumn, and I wanted to purchase in the spring.
Two things to consider if you are thinking of purchasing from a garden centre: first, they only keep small stocks of trained fruit (if they stock them at all) so if you are desperate to secure one you are best off ordering from a nursery in the autumn. Secondly, many garden centres often keep unsold stock for a year or two. Avoid older plants, as not only will they have suffered nutrient deficiency from living in a pot under the dubious care of garden centre staff, but the shoots become less flexible with age and you are likely to snap branches as you set about the initial training.
Initial Training
It is sensible to get your support wires in place before you plant the tree (I use Grippler nylon wires – I much prefer them to galvanised steel). These wires should stand clear of the wall or fence by a couple of inches (5cm) to provide air flow behind the plant. The tree is then planted so that the plane of the branches are a further inch or two in front of the wires. If your plant is not quite flat, it should still be OK as long as there is enough flexibility in the shoots to bend them into place. Any branches that are pointing significantly out of plane should be cut off. Make sure that you plant the graft well clear of the ground to minimise infections and avoid rooting or suckering from the graft joint.
Bamboo canes are fastened to the two lower-tier branches and gently lowered to a suitable angle. Whilst doing this they should not be allowed to fall, as they might snap the branches. Once a position is found the cane can be tied in a couple of places to the support wires to hold it in place. These ties should be adjustable, so the canes can be moved later in the year as the shoots extend
The young growth (last season’s) is the most flexible, whereas older wood is more brittle and prone to snapping. Lower-tier branches will have two-year old wood at their base, so need gentle handling. It is possible to bend the older wood less and the younger, newer extension growth more – you can see this particularly on the left hand branch above.
The right hand branch is not as straight as I would like, but it will still be amenable to adjustment towards the end of the coming year once it has thickened up and has new extension growth – so I’ll adjust it then. Over-tightening the ties now can restrict growth and cut into the expanding wood.
The second tier is treated the same. These shoots are one year old wood all the way back to the trunk, so are easily bent through a large angle, however, their weak point is where they meet the trunk, so I try to avoid putting strain there. This is achieved by placing the first cane tie several inches from the joint so that the main flexing is beyond this point.
Finally the top tier shoots are tied in completing the initial training. In late summer, once the majority of growth has taken place, I will revisit the shape as a whole, possibly training the lowest tier horizontally along the second wire, but for now I’m happy with the shape.
Here’s what it looks like. I have deliberately used long canes to fill the final space I hope it will occupy. I’ve done that mainly for visual impact: In practice I will change these canes every year or so as I train and tie in new growth.
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Variety – Concorde
As this is the first and possibly only pear I will have in my garden I went for a self-fertile variety, although it would do better with a pollinator. Luckily, our neighbors five doors down have two conference pear trees in their garden, so I can be fairly sure of getting some cross pollination.
According to Orange Pippin Trees:
Concorde is without doubt one of the best pears for the UK. It is a fairly new variety, but combines the strengths of two classic 19th century varieties. From Conference it inherits reliability, cropping potential, and excellent suitability for the UK climate. From Doyenne du Comice it inherits top quality flavour. The result is a pear that tastes as good as many of the old-fashioned European pears, and yet grows well in the sometimes marginal conditions of an English summer.
The fruit is very similar to Conference in appearance, tall and pear shaped with extensive russet. The skin colour is variable, normally a yellow-cream colour but it may sometimes be flushed from exposure to sunlight.
Concorde performs well in many situations and is a good choice for growers who want to produce pears organically or without chemicals.
I’ll take off any blossom this year so the tree can put its energy into growth. Next year I might let it set one or two fruit. After that I expect I’ll have to thin it as it is very heavy bearing, but I should get a large crop, possibly with a good red blush as the sun will get to the fruit easily.
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FAN_TRAINED PEAR
THIS POST WILL BE UPDATED EACH YEAR
READ ON TO FIND OUT HOW IT DEVELOPED EACH YEAR…
Hi Keir, loving your blog. I’m planning to start growing some trained fruit trees in my London garden and just in the planning stage – I like the idea of a pear fan-trained tree. One question I have that I can’t find an answer to anywhere is: Is it an absolute mandatory that a fan-trained tree needs to be against a wall or fence. Can I succeed in growing one between two fence posts (as part of a larger structure I’m creating which will have space for espalier trees) if well trained against firm wire/bamboo etc? Or is the wall support absolutely integral? Thanks, Henry
Hi Henry, yes you can grow a fan trained pear on wires between posts no problem. The benefits are that it will get better air circulation and more light. The main reason for growing on a wall is that the tree uses an otherwise unproductive wall. If you wanted to grow figs or peaches then a wall would increase the heat improving fruiting, but pears will manage fine in the open. (That said, there are a few pear varieties that do better on the continent than in the U.K., and they might do better against a warm wall)
We have bought fan trained pear and cherry trees, what would happen if we took the fan frames off would they just grow out naturally?
There is no problem with removing the supplied frame as long as you attach the fans to your own support (wires, fence, trellis or bamboo canes etc)
To maintain the shape you need to prune them twice per year. Late summer, tie in all main shoots that can be used to extend the shape, while cutting off any new shoots that point in the wrong direction. Cut back all side shoots to three leaves to encourage formation of fruiting spurs. In winter tie in shoots to canes and cut back any shoots that formed since the summer prune as before.
Read my articles for more information.
Hi.
I tried fan training a Pear which I thought was on a dwarf rootstock. It was rampant so I guess it wasnt dwarf. Every year I had to take off at least a metre of growth and if I missed a year, forgetfulness or busy on other things, then the tree gained height and trunk girth and although some branches are very nicely trained the central ‘trunk’ has become dominant and shoots up double height above the 1.8m wall it is trained against. It also weirdly has one half which is a very prickly type and the other half smooth bark/branches -probably a result of the grafted on root stock I expect.
Anyway, my question is have you used a dwarf tree, or do you rely on good pruning every year to keep the tree to the size you have against the fence?
Thanks
David
I don’t have the original label, but I am sure it was the standard pear rootstock, Quince A, which is classed as semi-vigorous and recommended fan or espalier training . The only other pear rootstock is quince C (semi-dwarfing) but is only suitable for open bush pruning. The reason wall trained pears need the more vigorous rootstock is because they have to put up with very heavy pruning.
To maintain wall trained fruit you have to commit to twice-yearly pruning. You can’t skip it for a year without the whole thing getting out of hand (as you seem to have discovered!) That said, it is usually possible to correct such neglect, but you will need to be ruthless, then commit to both a summer and winter pruning schedule.