Seckel Pear Tree for Sale - Buying & Growing Guide

Planting and Care

by Mary Van Keuren | Gardener (30+ Years Experience) – last update on October 26, 2022

Planting instructions

Site your Seckel Pear where it will get at least six hours of sunlight a day and in soil that drains well. Unpot your sapling and tease out any encircling roots, which can girdle the tree and slowly kill it. Leave the roots in a bucket of water while you prepare the planting site. Dig a hole that’s as deep as the root ball and two to three times as wide. Place the tree in the hole, spreading out the roots and making sure that it isn’t planted any deeper than it was in the pot. Holding it upright and steady, fill in around the root ball with topsoil, tamping down as you go to eliminate air pockets. Water thoroughly. Apply a two to three-inch layer of organic mulch such as bark chips around the root zone to conserve moisture and hinder weed growth but keep it from touching the trunk to avoid problems with rot.

Watering and nutrients

When newly planted, water your Seckel Pear a few times a week until you begin to see strong signs of growth on the branches. Scale back to watering once a week, giving the tree one to two inches of water at a time. In very hot or dry weather, increase your watering. After your first frost in fall, you can stop watering during the winter months. To fertilize, use a product that is designed for fruit trees, applying it as the package directs in spring and throughout the growing season.

Pollination

The honeybee is the most common pollinator of pear trees, though other insects may also be drawn to the tree’s flowers. Pear trees are not self-fertile, meaning that in order to have a bountiful harvest, you’ll need more than one variety of pear planted nearby. Good pollinators for the Seckel Pear are the Bosc Pear, D’Anjou Pear and Comice Pear trees.

Pruning

Remove dead, diseased or damaged branches whenever you see them. In early spring, before bud break, prune back your pear tree to shape it. The tree grows best when it has a strong central leader (trunk), surrounded by lateral branches that are spaced evenly four to six inches apart around the trunk. Cut back about a fourth of these lateral branches every year. If your tree bears heavily, you may also prune out some of the excess fruit to allow the tree to concentrate on the ones remaining. Leave two fruits per cluster.

Pests, diseases and animals

Pests that may appear on pear trees include scale insects, leafrollers and aphids. A healthy tree can handle minor infestations fine on its own, but if insect pressure is high, consider releasing beneficial insects such as aphids and lacewings to attack the pests. Use insecticides as a last resort. Diseases of the pear include Septoria leaf spot and leaf and stem blight. A copper fungicide may be helpful in dealing with these fungal diseases. When your tree is bearing fruit, you may see signs of small animal damage, but this will mostly be on fallen fruit.

Harvesting

Unlike many fruits, pears are picked when they are still unripe. Look for the fruit to begin to take on its mature greenish-bronze color. If they are ready, they will separate from the branch easily. Place them in a warm spot to ripen—or better yet, try one to see if it’s already ripe enough to eat. Pears are also easily stored for the winter, in a cold, humid spot that is 32 to 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Achieving maximum results

Fruit trees have a reputation for being high-maintenance, but this doesn’t have to be the case. Commercial fruit growers may spray their trees frequently and coddle them to ensure maximum results, but you can achieve much the same thing in your backyard with little work. Pruning, for example, is not difficult. Pear trees like a central trunk, which is easy to achieve just by pruning out secondary vertical branches. If the secondary branches are so numerous that the tree looks cluttered, trim them back. Always try to prune lateral branches to an outward-facing bud and make your cut at a 45-degree angle, using clippers that are clean and have been sterilized with rubbing alcohol.

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