Summercrisp Pear Tree for Sale - Buying & Growing Guide

Planting and Care

by John Haryasz | Horticulture Writer and Landscape Designer – last update on November 4, 2022

Planting instructions

The summercrisp pear tree must grow in a location that gets full sunlight and has soils with great drainage. Once you find such a location, you should dig a hole that is deep enough to keep the plant’s root flare exposed just above the soil’s surface. The hole should also be about twice as wide as the root ball. Give your summercrisp pear tree at least 10 feet of spacing in all directions to allow it to develop its full form.

Watering and nutrients

A newly-planted summercrisp pear tree will need water about once per week. However, once this plant is mature, it will likely survive off rainfall alone but be ready to supply water during any considerable heatwave or prolonged drought. Generally, the summercrisp pear tree does not need a lot of fertilization. Plan to feed your tree about once per year during spring or about once every few years. When fertilizing, be sure to use a fertilizer that has plenty of nitrogen.

Pollination

The summercrisp pear tree is typically not self-fertile, which means that a single plant will not produce fruits on its own. Instead, you will need to plant a companion pollinator plant nearby to allow for cross-pollination. There are several types of pear trees that you can use for this role, including the comice, bartlett, and bosc pear varieties. Be sure to plant these trees within 50 feet of one another to ensure a successful pollen transfer.

Pruning

Another convenient feature of the summercrisp pear tree is that it requires very little pruning. In fact, many summercrisp pear trees will remain healthy without any pruning at all. Still, some pruning can be beneficial. Mainly, you should make sure that you remove any branches that are dead or broken. As is true for many plants, it is best to prune your summercrisp pear tree during the late winter or early spring as the plant begins to put forth new growth.

Pests, diseases, and animals

Unfortunately, pear trees are known to encounter several disease issues, including black spot, leaf spot, leaf blight, and various fungal infections. However, the pear variety known as the summercrisp pear tree is far more resistant to disease than most pear trees. This plant is especially resistant to fire blight, a disease that commonly kills flowers and causes dieback. Despite that disease resistance, the summercrisp pear tree is still vulnerable to common insect pests like moths, mites, and aphids.

Harvesting

Most summercrisp pear trees will be ready for harvest during the month of August. Throughout late spring and summer, this plant will develop its fruits, which start with a green color. When harvest time arrives, the fruits should have already changed from green to yellow. Once this color change occurs, you can use your hands to remove fruits individually by gently twisting them. It should be relatively easy to remove each fruit if it is sufficiently ripe.

Achieving maximum results

The timing of your harvest can affect the overall texture and quality of your summercrisp pear tree fruits. For example, if you leave a ripe fruit on the tree for too long without picking it, there is a good chance that the fruit’s flesh will lose its crispness. Also, it is important that you store these fruits properly. Ideally, you should place your fruit in a perforated bag and store it in the refrigerator. You should not allow these fruit to sit at room temperature as they will go bad much more quickly.

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