Spring brings with it a lot of trouble for gardeners. One of the most significant and difficult operations is the pruning of fruit trees. Owners of land plots that only gain experience in growing and caring for garden crops are often interested in: is it possible to prune a pear? If so, how to crop a pear in the spring? Information on how to properly cut a pear in the spring, you can get from this article.
What is the pruning of fruit trees for?
The branches inside the crown suffer from a lack of sunlight and heat, which negatively affects the yield. In order to provide the necessary amount of light, the entire fruit tree is pruned. In addition, agrotechnists note that cropped trees suffer much less frequently than those not subjected to technical molding.
When is the pear cropped?
In the first year after planting pruning is not carried out, since the young tree develops poorly. The first pruning is done for the second year after planting the seedling. Spring pruning is carried out in early spring, when severe frosts recede, but the sap flow has not yet begun, and no buds have formed. In the temperate climatic zone, this period occurs at the end of March - early April. The procedure is repeated yearly. Also, work on pruning pears can be carried out in the autumn period, although agrotechnics consider pruning in spring more sparing, since after autumn molding the tree is sensitive to frost.
Pear cropping scheme
At the seedling, which is one year old, cut off the central trunk by ΒΌ of the length, thus stimulating the branching of the crown. Side shoots are only slightly shortened to the first kidney. A year later, the top of the central trunk is cut no more than 25 cm, and the branches - 5 - 7 cm. Forming the crown of the pear, the lower branches should be left longer than the upper ones. In fact, for abundant fruiting, the tree must have a pyramidal shape. In the future, the pruning takes place in 2 stages: sanitary and forming. When sanitary pruning in March, the dried and diseased branches are removed, after about 10 days they make the basic (forming) pruning. As the culture grows, the speed of shoots is weakened. Then the shaping pruning is carried out once in 2 - 4 years.
Features of spring pruning pears
When pruning pears in the spring, one should adhere to certain rules, so as not to harm the fruit tree.
- For cutting small branches a garden pruner with a sharp blade is used, for larger branches - a hacksaw. After removing diseased branches, the instrument is recommended to be disinfected with alcohol-containing liquid.
- It is not recommended to trim at an air temperature below -5 degrees.
- Seats of cuts for sealing should be covered with garden varnish , linseed oil, oil paint or "Runnet". The latter is also used to lubricate cortical damage.
- Two methods of trimming are used: shortening of branches and a cut on the ring. In the first case, the growth of the lateral shoots is accelerated, and buds located below the slices are awakened. When using the second method, the spil is made under the ring, that is, at the base of the branch.
In order not to tear off the bark, at first a cut is made at the bottom, and only then the main upper one is washed down. - Given that the pear branches grow both vertically and horizontally, horizontal shoots should be maintained, and shoots that run vertically in relation to the trunk must be disposed of. Also, branches that are directed downwards, as least productive, are cut off.
- When pruning pears in the spring, fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers is excluded, since during this period the plant actively takes nutrients from the soil.