Pear trees are fruiting now and will begin ripening in the next month or so, writes gardening columnist JACKIE WARBURTON.
PEARS grow well in our environment and like wet feet more than other fruit trees. Most fruiting pears flower early in spring, but can be prone to frost damage to the flowers. Unfortunately, if this happens there is no fruit for the season.
There are more than 3000 cultivars of pears to choose from, so it’s important to grow what you like to eat. If looking at crunchy pears to eat straight off the tree or pears for stewing, preserving or drying, there’s an abundance of choice.
It’s important to ensure that the chosen variety has a pollinating partner or is a self-fertile tree. Some varieties can be large trees, but there are grafted dwarf varieties if space is limited in the orchard. I have grown a Trixzie pear tree for about 15 years. It’s a self-fertile dwarf tree, about 1.5 metres tall and 50 centimetres wide. It’s had little or no pruning and still fruits quite well, certainly more than enough for our family.
I get problems with pear and cherry slugs on the leaves, but only spray with diapel when the infestation is at a high level.
Asian and European pears ripen differently. Asian pears don’t ripen further once picked, but the Europeans ripen from the inside out and need to be picked about 10 days before becoming fully ripe.
If the pips inside the pears are black, it is a good sign that the pears are ripe and ready for picking. When picking pears ensure the stem is intact as this helps with the long-term storage of the pears.
Companion plants to grow around a pear tree are members of the Allium family, lavenders and most herbs, but pear trees are shallow rooted so minimal digging around the root zone will ensure that suckering or damage to the roots is kept to a minimum.
All pome fruits such as apples and pears get a good hard prune in the winter, but a summer prune can be done to keep their growth in check. Prune any current branch growth that is longer than 50 centimetres and cut back to a third of the branch.
Summer pruning inhibits vigorous current branch growth, encourages fruiting spurs, and maintains a more manageable tree shape if netting is required.
WINTER vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts and cabbages can be planted in the next month or so while the soil is still warm to get some good growth before the winter weather sets in.
Now is the last chance to sow seed for planting winter crops. Seed can be sown into punnets with seed-raising mix and kept moist in bright light but not full sun.
When there are six sets of leaves, plant out and protect seedlings from snails and slugs with diatomaceous earth. Sowing broccoli seeds that are heirloom varieties ensures the seed can be resown each year.
More modern varieties such as broccolini, which is a cross between true broccoli and Chinese broccoli, is an F1 hybrid meaning the seed is sterile and will not regrow the following season. My favourite broccoli to grow is Di Cicco Early, which has bluish-green heads and lots of side shoots. Harvest time is from 65 to 85 days.
A FAVOURITE flower this summer is the plume poppy (Macleaya cordata). It needs room to grow and adds size and architectural interest in the garden.
Although it can be weedy in the tropics, I manage to keep the rhizomes under control and very rarely water it. The striking, tall flowers can grow at least two metres tall and are a terrific plant for the vase.
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