How Far Apart Can You Plant Luscious Pear Trees for Pollination?

"Luscious" Pears

• "Luscious" pears (Pyrus communis "Luscious") are sweet and juicy dessert pears harvested in September. They are yellow with a red blush and smaller than many other pear varieties. "Luscious" pears grow best in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 4 through 8. While moderately sized trees that typically grow 20 to 25 feet tall and wide, they can grow as tall as 40 feet under ideal conditions. The "Luscious" is a long-lived pear and can survive up to 75 years.

Pollination

• "Luscious" pears are one a handful of pear varieties that are pollen sterile, meaning that they can pollinate neither themselves nor another pear tree. In order to produce fruit, they require at least one partner tree. If the partner tree is not self-fertile, a third pear tree is required to pollinate the second. These two will pollinate both each other and the "Luscious," providing a hefty fruit-set. It is also possible to graft a branch or two from a self-pollinating tree onto the "Luscious" pear when space is extremely limited and a second or third tree is not feasible.

Pollination Partner

• Pollination partners should have similar bloom times in order to ensure the blossoms are available to one another at the same time. "Luscious" blooms in May, so the partner should do the same. Some common choices for self-fertile partners are "Parker," "Summer Crisp" and "Honeysweet." Spacing is critical since the tree must both have room to thrive as well as pollen within reaching distance. For comfort's sake, the University of California's Backyard Orchard recommends at least 18 to 25 feet between trees. The maximum distance that pears should be spaced is around 100 feet. Anything further than that is too far for insects and elements to adequately transfer pollen.

Concerns

• If fruiting is not occurring, there is a simple way to help your trees along. Examine your spacing to be sure they are close enough for bees and other insects to exchange the pollen. If you are concerned that no pollination assistants have been visiting, you can help pollination by brushing a cotton swab over the blossoms of your pollen donor tree and then over your "Luscious" blossoms. If fruit is still absent, it could be because the trees are too young. "Luscious" pears take four to eight years to reach maturity and will not produce fruit until that age.