Saturday 5 September 2009

Pears: Summer pruning

Before and after pruning shots of Winter Nelis and Glou Morceau. Winter Nelis has a particularly effusive, weeping habit which tends to shade the fruit a lot, although this doesn't seem to affect fruit quality that much. However, it looks untidy and pruning the excess growth now also means fewer leaves to sweep up later on. It will also allow light in to help ripen the Glou Morceau fruits, which need all the warmth and light they can get. 

Pruning revealed rather more Winter Nelis fruits than I'd been expecting. This variety is inclined to produce a lot of spurs close together, and my usual approach is to prune back to just one rather than allow a cluster of spurs to develop.


No comments: