I've inherited a n;umber of apple, plum and cheery trees that have not been cared for. They are full of water sprouts. The trees are now in bloom. Is it OK to take out these shoots now? (mid may)
I have a pear that is putting up a huge central leader (it is now about 20' high). I want to prune it out to encourage the lower, spreading branches and to limit height. If I do that now (late May), how will that work out? Regards, Janet
Quite well, I think. I normally trim my pears after they've bloomed (to ensure I'm not taking fruiting wood), and in BC you should be well past blooming. It might be a good idea to contact a local arborist to do the actual pruning; 20' is a lot of wood to drop on your own, and if you haven't ever done it you can hurt yourself quite seriously.
We make a pretty good tree trimming team, my husband and I...we will take it down in sections for easy handling. Thankyou for the affirmations that this is not such a bad time to prune the pear, which is indeed just past blooming. We had appalling weather here during the pear blossom time so I do not expect anyone will get many pears this year, but mine is large enough it should start bearing this year or next. It is supposed to be a Comice, but I find pears are often mislabelled, sigh. I did so want a Comice, but have a sad feeling it is a Bosc. Unfortunately, I have invested 4 years in this tree. Regards, Janet
