Owners of small plots of land and summer residents after the appearance of columnar apple trees in the culture in recent years have enthusiastically taken up the cultivation of columnar pears and other fruit trees with a crown of this shape. Amazing They grow what is not in nature. In addition to the columnar apple trees, there are no fruit trees that would have a columnar shape and preserve it all their lives. There are dwarf forms, stunted, bushy, but all of them in the second or third year of growth have a fairly wide crown, completely different from the columnar. It is hard to say which plant the distributors of planting material offer, announcing the seedling as a columnar.
General information
Having decided to plant a pear on your site in the Moscow Region, presented as a columnar, do not miss the moments of choosing a seedling common to all garden crops: frost resistance, disease resistance, productivity. In addition, it is no secret that in the south of the Moscow region the climate is somewhat milder than in its northern parts. So, speaking about the “columnar” pears for the Moscow Region, you can give only general information, and only the gardener will have to make a decision taking into account the features of the area where the tree will grow.
In addition, both tall pears and stunted or dwarf fruit trees of this species are distinguished depending on the time of ripening of the fruits:
- summer;
- Autumn
- late autumn, which is also called winter.
A pear announced as a columnar in the video
As you can see even in this short video, the tree is ordinary, spreading, fruits on horizontal branches, like a traditional tall pear. Perhaps the tree is stunted or on a dwarf rootstock. A similar observation can be made by carefully examining the photographs accompanying the descriptions of the "columnar" pears.
Below are descriptions of such pears recommended for the Moscow Region, compiled on the basis of information from the Internet, with reference to the peculiarities of care indicated for a particular variety.
Summer
Among the pears, the fruits of which ripen in the summer months and can be grown in the suburbs, include Severyanka, Carmen, Decor, Tenderness.
Northerner
Low to two meters trees of Severyanka are very frost-resistant
Low to two meters, the trees of the Severyanka are very frost-resistant. After planting, the first crop is given for 5-6 years. Juicy and aromatic fruits begin to ripen in mid-August, with good weather, sometimes even in its first decade. They have a green peel with a yellowish tint and a dark blush. They taste sour-sweet, weigh from 70 to 100 grams, rarely more. Pears can be stored up to one and a half weeks. Severyanka is suitable for home canning. The disadvantage of the variety is its susceptibility to scab disease.
In the description given in the State Register, it is indicated that the variety Severyanka has fruits whose size is below average and the weight is on average 80 grams. The remaining varieties are not included in the State Register.
Carmen
Bright burgundy color of pears makes these trees very decorative
The burgundy coloring of fruits, unusual for pears, makes these trees very decorative. Their height reaches 2.5 meters, the crown is compact no more than half a meter in diameter. The first harvest after planting a tree can be enjoyed in the third year. Pears ripen in the summer in mid-August and weigh about 250-300 grams each. Removed fruits can be stored for up to 15 days. The tree is resistant to scab and septoria. Carmen prefers fertile soil and does not like excessive and stagnant moisture.
Decor
Decora is a late-summer variety, pears ripen by the end of August
Decor is a late-summer variety, pears ripen by the end of August. The tree grows in height from one and a half to two meters. After planting, the pear begins to bear fruit for 2-3 years. Straw yellow fruits weighing from 200 to 400 grams have a juicy slightly sour flesh, slightly smelling of a rose. Ripe fruits can be stored one and a half to two weeks. The variety has significant resistance to colds and diseases characteristic of pears.
Tenderness
These compact trees with a height of no more than two meters can withstand forty-degree frost
The pear with the romantic name Tenderness is well known to gardeners and summer residents from Kaluga to Chelyabinsk. These compact trees with a height of no more than two meters can withstand forty-degree frosts and are not afraid of fungal diseases. From the third year of pear growth on the site, it gives a high yield every year. Fruits are small up to 200 grams in weight, covered with a light green peel that turns slightly red in the sun. The fruit pulp is sweet and sour, juicy and aromatic. Ripening time is the end of August or the beginning of September, depending on the weather of the season. You can store the crop no more than a month. In the dry period Tenderness needs additional watering. Pears are eaten fresh, baked and processed.
Autumn
The group of pears that ripen and are consumed in the fall and can be grown in the suburbs include such as Sapphira and Sanrem.
Sapphire
Sapphire - a winter-hardy pear 1.8-2 meters high
Sapphire is a winter-hardy pear 1.8-2 meters high, which is not afraid of most diseases. She will give her first crop in the third year after planting. The fruits ripen in late September. Their weight is 180-230 grams. When ripe, the pears are greenish-yellow in color with a burgundy blush at the site of exposure to sunlight. Juicy flesh is slightly oily. Pears are sweet and sour in taste and very fragrant. They do not fall from the tree even in heavy rains. The fruits removed from the tree are left to settle for two weeks, then they can be eaten, and sapphire pears can be stored until December.
Variety Sanremi
Sanremi is a self-pollinating winter-hardy variety of pears that ripen in early October
Sanremi is a self-pollinating winter-hardy variety of pears that ripen in early October. Trees grow up to two meters high. They are not susceptible to clasterosporosis, moniliosis and most other diseases. The first crop can be harvested in the third year of life of a seedling on the site. Fruiting is annual. Harvest ripens in early October. Large pears weighing up to 400 grams, greenish-yellow. Juicy soft and aromatic pulp is sweet in taste, which is estimated at 4.9 points. The crop is stored for no more than two months. Pears tolerate transportation well. They can be eaten fresh or made from them homemade preserves in the form of jam, juice, compote, jam and so on.
Winter Pears
These trees, bringing crops in late autumn, are attractive for gardeners in that their fruits can be stored for a long time, which allows you to feel the aroma and taste of summer in the cold winter months. An example of such pears is the Dalicor variety, bred in France, but successfully grown here.
Dalicor
The fruits ripen in early October and can be stored until February.
Dwarf trees up to one and a half meters high. The fruits ripen in early October and can be stored until February. The yellow fruits with a blush have a very juicy creamy flesh. Productivity is good. Minimum care - top dressing and moderate watering without waterlogging the soil, does not need to be pruned, but in the spring it is necessarily treated with complex fungicides, as it is easily infected with scab.
To plant a "columnar" pear
Some resources on the Internet indicate as the creator of columnar pears of the famous breeder of columnar apple trees, candidate of agricultural sciences Mikhail Vitalievich Kachalkin, although he completely denies even the existence of such plants.
Column-shaped pears, plums and apricots. Myth or reality?
Are there columnar pears?
If, contrary to what has been said, the gardener decides to plant a “columnar” pear on his plot, he should pay attention to general recommendations for planting and caring for this type of tree. Perhaps it is worth checking with the seller about the nature of the stock and taking into account the possible nuances of growing the plant.
In fact, to form a pear with a compact crown, the height of which will not exceed two meters, and the width will be about 1.2 meters, is not difficult. Such trees are successfully grown for production purposes. This form of the crown is called dwarf pyramidal. True, care for such a pear will be somewhat more intense than tall, because it will require:
- summer pruning;
- removal of powerful vertical shoots;
- timely fruit collection.
It is possible to form such a crown of a tree if the varietal stalk of a pear was grafted onto plum. This stockstock successfully maintains a balance between the renewal of fruit formations and constant fruiting.
Seedlings are planted during dormancy in spring or autumn. For a single tree, stakes are installed for the garter of a young plant. If a number of young trees are planted, a trellis is made for their garter with wires taut at a height of 0.45 and 0.9 meters. Between the trees leave a distance of 1.5-1.8 meters, on fertile soils - about 2 meters. The row spacing is 2 meters.
The formation of the crown begins immediately after planting the pear in a permanent place. On the trunk of a tree, a kidney is determined at a height of about half a meter from the ground, located on the opposite side of the side grafting. A cut is made over this kidney, which is treated with garden var. Over the summer, 4-5 shoots will be formed without pear.
The formation of the dwarf pyramidal crown of a pear begins in the first year of planting a tree
In the spring of next year, the vertical shoot is cut off, leaving about 0.25 meters of its length, above the kidney, located on the side that is opposite to the previous pruning. This pruning stimulates the growth of new side shoots.
The lateral shoots that grew last year are also cut to the kidney, which is directed downward and is 0.2 meters from the trunk.
In the summer of that year, lateral shoots are shortened, which are not needed to create skeletal branches, leaving only 7-10 centimeters of growth, that is, no more than three leaves. Second-order shoots, that is, departing from the branches that grew last year, are cut off, leaving 1 leaf. The conductor (central vertical shoot) is not cut.
The formation of the crown of a young pear in the second year
For the third and next years, the conductor is cut off, leaving 0.25 meters of its length, as in the previous year. The growth, which was formed as a result of last year's summer pruning, is cut off over a well-formed kidney. All powerful vertical shoots are removed completely.
In summer, all side shoots are shortened to three leaves, second-order shoots to one leaf, shoots that continue skeletal branches to six leaves.
Third year of pear tree crown formation
On an adult tree, which has reached two meters in height, in the summer the central conductor is shortened to the full length of the growth of the current year. Strong shoots are also cut off, directed upwards and the side branches that have grown outside the crown and interfere with neighboring pears, thin out the cakes.
Maintaining the shape of the crown. Adult tree pruning
The crown formed in this way will occupy an area of slightly more than one square meter, which, of course, is larger than the area allocated for the columnar tree, but is quite acceptable even for small garden plots.
Reviews of columnar fruit trees
As for the columnar apple trees (and this is perhaps the only columnar fruit plant), the main specialist in these matters, Mr. Kachalkin. Look on the Internet for his articles and here is his site //www.opitomnik.ru/.
There are several subtleties. The seedling of the columnar variety should be on a really dwarf rootstock. With all the ensuing consequences (both pluses and minuses such as the need for irrigation and intensive nutrition). They begin to bear fruit practically in the year of planting (according to descriptions and if grown correctly), the economic effect with a very tight planting. Many columnar varieties freeze in the Moscow region and north.
For me, it makes no sense especially in them. It’s easier to plant ANY frost-resistant and liked variety on a super dwarf (like Kid Budagovsky) and get the same thing, it’s only more reliable and much more diverse in terms of varieties. The tree will be approximately 120-150cm maximum and begin to fruit the next year after planting, it is better not to allow it, otherwise the bonsai will be completely. It is better to grow first to the top to the maximum, and then receive the fruits.
Andrey Vasiliev
//www.forumhouse.ru/threads/212453/
When damaged by frost, the columns turn into a “brush”, under all ideal conditions - to feed, drink, blow off dust particles - the yield is very small 5-6 kg from a tree, there is information that the fruitiness decreases after 12-15 years. The price of a seedling with us is 500-600 rubles per piece. It seems to me that all this hype around the columns is needed only by the manufacturer. Isn’t it better to plant ordinary trees, now there is a huge selection of beautiful, delicious varieties that give joy to you, your children and grandchildren?
Marina Ufa
//forum.vinograd.info/showthread.php?t=4280&page=6
Regarding the cultivation of "columnar" pears in their area, each gardener can only make a decision on his own, based on publicly available information.
