How to Trim a Dwarf Pear

Dwarf pear trees are often sought by homeowners for their compact size and ease of care when compared to full-sized pear trees. While they are smaller, either genetically or due to being grafted to dwarf rootstock, dwarf pear trees still require trimming and training like any other fruit tree. Proper trimming and training throughout the life of the pear tree will lead to higher-quality fruits and less overall labor for the home gardener.

Bypass pruner
Pruning saw

Instructions

- 1
  Trim dwarf pear trees at planting to ensure a good start on training. Trim whips (unbranched young trees) to 36 inches above the ground. Trim more developed trees to one main leader and four scaffold limbs.
- 2
  Check the pear tree during the winter for diseased or damaged limbs and remove these limbs 12 inches below blight cankers to help prevent spreading disease. Check pear trees throughout the spring and through midsummer for blight-infected spurs that appear blackened. Remove any affected shoots at least 4 inches below any sign of damage. Remove any shoots or waterspouts that appear at the base of the tree.
- 3
  Maintain a growing or mature tree by removing excess branches from leaders or scaffold limbs. Open the tree's interior to sunlight by keeping only the best limbs and leaving space between each so they do not shade one another. Head back any limbs that grow excessively long to promote a sturdier structure.

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