The gardener's greatest pride is planting a home-grown pear tree. Whether through moss removal, propagation through cuttings or grafting - with a little skill you can even harvest several pear varieties from just one pear tree through your own cultivation.
How can I grow a pear tree myself?
There are various methods for growing a pear tree yourself: removing moss, grafting or propagating it using cuttings. Through home breeding, several pear varieties can be grown on one tree and old varieties can be preserved.
Raising from kernels
It could be very simple: just put a few pear seeds in the ground and a new tree will grow there in a few years. Unfortunately, it almost never works that way in gardening practice.
Almost all pear trees are grafted, which means that the fruit-bearing branches grow on a base that comes from a completely different tree.
If you sow the seeds, you will only receive descendants of the tree species that provided the rootstock for your pear tree.
Propagation by moss, grafting or cuttings
Pure pear trees can only be obtained by removing moss, refining or cutting cuttings. In technical language, these methods are referred to as “vegetative propagation”.
You always need a robust foundation for the vegetative propagation of a pear tree. This can be a quince, which has proven itself very useful in refining pears. In principle, any tree that is similar to the pear tree can be used.
Several varieties of pears on a tree
It is even possible to grow several varieties on one pear tree.
These breedings with several varieties are made possible through grafting. Scions from different pear varieties are grafted onto a support tree.
A big advantage of such home breeding is that you have no problems with fertilization, even if you only graft the rootstock with monoecious pear varieties.
Why grow pear trees yourself?
You need patience if you want to grow a pear tree yourself. But the effort is worth it, because home breeding has several advantages:
- Preservation of old varieties that are no longer commercially available
- Space-saving cultivation
- Good fertilization through several varieties
- Rejuvenation of the pear tree population through the same varieties.
Tips & Tricks
If you are a beginner when it comes to propagating pear trees, get advice from the tree nursery (€79.00 on Amazon) or from an experienced hobby gardener. Many gardeners will be happy to give you valuable tips or show you how to successfully grow a pear tree.
