Planting and Pruning the Perfect Bradford Pear Tree

With the right design and quality care, flowers, shrubs, and a nice lawn can increase your home's appeal and value. The addition of certain trees can also benefit your landscape design and home's look, but choosing the right ones can be challenging. While it does not produce actual fruit, the Bradford pear tree is an excellent option your home's landscaping needs. Not only does it grow up to 50 feet tall, but it also offers an enormous amount of color and texture with its spring blooms that last through summer. With this guide, you will understand how to plant and prune ta perfect Bradford pear tree.

Planting

There are a few factors that determine the best location for your pear tree. Since the tree grows so high and wide, choose an area of your yard that is open and away from the house, storage buildings, power lines, or other outdoor structures. 

Bradford pear trees are also considered invasive plants, meaning they grow quickly, invading the space and taking over any other plants. Due to this, planting the Bradford pear away in a wide, open space away from other trees and shrubs is best.

Your tree should also receive full sun, ensuring its flowers bloom in a healthy, bright manner during the spring season.

To install, dig a hole that is a few times wider and deeper than the root ball of your Bradford pear tree. Use your hands to massage the tree's roots before placing into the hole. Surround the root ball with dirt and use your hands to pack the soil around the base of the tree. Place mulch or pine straw around the base of the tree. Water the tree's base thoroughly after planting.

Pruning

In the later part of the fall season, use pruning shears to trim dead branches and leaves off your Bradford pear tree. This will stimulate new growth in the early stages of spring, helping your tree look full and healthy through the seasons.

Angle the blades of your pruning shears on a dead limb of your tree and trim in one clean cut. For thicker branches or limbs, make a cut at the top and then at the bottom. This will allow the thicker branch to fall off without harming the tree with one harder cut of the shears.

Do not remove any branches that are growing at a 45-degree angle. These branches are essential for supporting the classic shape of your Bradford pear tree.

A Bradford pear tree is a great investment for your home's landscaping. For more tips on how to plant and prune your perfect pear tree, talk to a tree service like Treetime Inc.