MARGARET LAUTERBACH wrote:
If it's a standard tree, it may not
Then, too, how old was the tree when you got it?
I learned about pollinator trees when I lived in Southern Michigan.
My neighbor and I had talked about planting pear trees. I remembered
how good the Bartlett pears had tasted on my parents pear tree and
planted Bartlett. He decided to plant something different. We planted
two year-old saplings and four years later I had blossoms and several
fruit. His didn't produce anything. The next spring I saw him walking
across the yard carrying his 4 to 6 food pear tree, bare root. In the
middle of getting my garden started, I really didn't have time to plant
a tree I didn't know if I had room for. But I quickly dug a hole and
covered the roots; didn't take best of care of it.
Two years later, I found blossoms, then fruit on the gift tree and my
pear trees produced better than before. I asked the neighbor what he
gave me, then asked an orchardman about the Bosc pear. He said, it is a
great pollinator, we plant one for every 10 (or 100 pear trees, I don't
remember the number) trees. But, he said, "You must wait more than
seven years for it to begin to blossom."
Should I have offered my neighbor some pears?
Dave
--
Julia/David Alleman
1245 Upland
Harrisonburg, VA 22802
540/433-4008
I have "a" Bartlett pear that is heavily laden with fruit every year. Not
another pear tree in the area. It has two trunks, however, so I've always
assumed one is a sucker, and is the pollenator...Margaret L
jalleman wrote:
In the circumstances, yes I think you really should! "His" tree is
almost certainly the cause of the better crop on yours!
Bartletts are /not/ good at self-pollinating.
Tony (for Moira)
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ.
Want to know all about NZ? See the world's first National On-line
Encyclopedia!
MARGARET LAUTERBACH wrote:
> I have "a" Bartlett pear that is heavily laden with fruit every year. Not
> another pear tree in the area. It has two trunks, however, so I've always
> assumed one is a sucker, and is the pollenator...Margaret L
You could be right Margaret. in my experience this variety definitely
doesn't manage well on its own. It was quite fashionable here at one
time to get a piece of suitable pollinator and simply graft it on to the
Bartlett. The amount of pollen provided by quite a small shoot is
sufficient apparently to make the difference. Mind you, even with such
close proximity, pollination still depends on insects (or the gardener's
paintbrush). but not only on bees. In our area several hover flies
apparently supplement their work
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ.
Want to know all about NZ? See the world's first National On-line
Encyclopedia!
