How to prune a pear tree

Step-by-step winter pruning guide from the PTES. This walk-through draws on "Winter pruning - a step by step guide to winter pruning apple and pear trees", produced by the People's Trust for Endangered Species. It covers assessing the shape, identifying which cuts to make, and the correct technique for each one.

1. Get the timing right

Winter pruning means dormant pruning: from leaf-fall in November through to late February, before the buds start to break. For East Kent gardens, late January through February is usually ideal. The hardest frosts should have passed by then and the tree still has a few weeks before it comes back into growth.

Avoid pruning in frosty weather. Wet, soggy days are also better left alone if you can manage it - fresh cuts are an entry point for disease, and cold damp conditions don't help.

2. Gather what you need

Sharp tools make cleaner cuts, which heal faster. You will need secateurs for small branches up to about a finger's width, loppers for anything up to roughly 4cm, and a pruning saw for larger limbs. A clean cloth and some methylated spirits are worth having to wipe blades between cuts - this stops you spreading any disease from one branch to another.

3. Stand back and look at the tree first

Before you cut anything, walk around the tree and look at its shape. You're aiming for an open goblet or vase shape: a clear centre that lets light and air in, with well-spaced main branches spreading outward. This is easier to picture before you've taken anything off.

On a young tree, you're mostly training the shape. On a mature tree, you're maintaining it and removing what has gone wrong.

4. Remove dead, damaged, and diseased wood first

Work through the canopy systematically. Take out anything dead or clearly dying - it's easy to spot once the leaves are gone. Look for signs of canker (sunken, cracked patches of bark with orange or red pustules), and cut back past the damaged section to healthy wood.

Diseased cuts should go straight in the bin, not on the compost heap.

5. Deal with crossing and rubbing branches

Where two branches rub against each other, one needs to go. Left alone, rubbing creates a wound that invites disease in. Remove the one that's growing inward or spoiling the shape, cutting cleanly back to a healthy outward-facing bud or a main branch junction.

This is also the stage to remove any shoots growing straight up from horizontal branches (called watershoots) - they rarely produce fruit and just clutch up the centre.

6. Shorten the main framework branches

On established trees, shorten the leading branches - the main outward-growing limbs - by about a third of the previous season's growth. Cut to an outward-facing bud to keep the shape opening outward. This encourages new spur growth further down the branch rather than all the action happening at the tips.

7. Prune back the fruiting spurs

Pear trees fruit on short stubby growths called spurs, which develop on older wood. Over time, spurs can cluster into complicated bunches that produce lots of small fruit. Thin these out: cut back congested spurs to leave two or three buds on each, and remove the weakest growths entirely.

This feels drastic if you haven't done it before. It isn't. You'll get fewer but larger, better-quality pears next year as a result.

8. Tidy up and feed

Clear up all the prunings. Large cuts can be treated with a wound sealant paste, though there is some debate among growers about whether it helps - for most garden trees it is not essential. A feed of general-purpose fertiliser around the drip line in early spring will help the tree respond well to the pruning.

When to call a tree surgeon

For a mature pear tree with large limbs that need removing, or anything overhanging a structure or boundary, bring in a qualified tree surgeon rather than doing it yourself. Removing large branches is heavy work and goes wrong quickly without the right kit. Richard can help with light pruning and maintenance on garden-scale trees.