A columnar pear can produce a remarkable yield of juicy, sweet pears in the garden or as a container culture on the balcony or terrace, even in a limited area. Nowadays, there are various types of pears available in specialist shops, whose columnar growth is already genetically predisposed and can, if necessary, be encouraged by regular cuts.
Which varieties of columnar pears are recommended?
Popular varieties of columnar pears include Pyrus communis 'Doyenné du Comice', 'Obelisk', 'Conference', 'Concorde', 'Bambinella', 'Condora' and 'Decora'. They can be trained narrowly and offer a wide variety of flavors, storage properties and pollinator qualities.
Pillar pears as “real” columnar fruit
In contrast to columnar cherries or columnar peaches, columnar pears can actually be trained to be very slim, although fruits can also form directly on the trunk of the columnar pears. Columnar pears usually grow to a height of around 250 cm unless they are deliberately trained to a lower tree height. A width of around 30 to 40 cm makes sense, on the one hand to be able to use the privacy function of the columnar fruit and, on the other hand, to enable a higher yield due to the fruit wood branching off from the trunk. The most popular varieties of columnar pears are:
- Pyrus communis 'Doyenné du Comice'
- Pyrus communis ‘Obelisk’
- Pyrus communis ‘Conference’
- Pyrus communis ‘Concorde’
- Pyrus communis ‘Bambinella’
- Pyrus communis ‘Condora’
- Pyrus communis ‘Decora’
Some of these varieties do not grow strictly in a columnar form on their own. However, they can all be trained into columnar fruit with relatively little care.
The columnar pear 'Decora'
The 'Decora' columnar pear is a type of pear that is also preferred in the agricultural cultivation of pears. This variety produces fruits with a particularly sweet taste and soft flesh. The fruits of the 'Decora' variety, which ripen from the end of September to the beginning of August, can easily be stored until around mid-December. Thanks to its tightly upright growth, this columnar pear is also suitable for growing in a pot on a sunny or partially shaded balcony. Since this is a deep-rooted plant, the respective planter must not be too small or too low.
The columnar pear 'Conference'
As a typical pollinator variety, the 'Conference' variety serves a special purpose when growing pears: Since pears require pollination by pollen from other nearby pear trees to set fruit, you can use this pear variety as a good pollinator variety. In addition, this pear variety also has fruits that can be stored for a long time and have a very juicy flesh texture.
Tip
If lateral fruit shoots are cut back to a length of around 2 to 3 buds in June, these will develop into fruit wood in the same year.
