Pear

Established pear trees are fully hardy in the lowlands of Germany, Austria and Switzerland and need no protection. Protect young trees in their first years with a layer of mulch around the base of the tree (remove it again in spring), and in case of late frost at blossom time with a horticultural fleece cover laid loosely over them, which you take off again straight afterwards.

True-to-variety propagation of the pear is almost exclusively by grafting. Only this way do you reliably pass on the characteristics of your chosen variety. Suitable rootstocks are quince seedlings (e.g. ‘Quince A’ or ‘Quince from Angers’) for weak to moderately vigorous trees, and wild pear seedlings for deep-rooting, hardier standard trees. Not every pear variety is directly compatible with quince; varieties such as ‘Williams Christ’ are otherwise rejected. In such cases you need a compatible interstem variety (such as ‘Gellerts Butterbirne’ or ‘Vereinsdechant’). For whip-and-tongue grafting, cut healthy scions in winter (ideally January to mid-February on a frost-free day): one-year-old shoots with 3 to 4 buds, at least pencil-thick, and store them dark, cool and frost-free (best at around 2 °C, e.g. in damp sand). Grafting is done in March or April, when the sap starts to flow in the rootstock; scion and rootstock get identical slanting cuts and are laid together precisely. T-budding is the summer variant: in July or August you take a fresh bud and slide it into a T-cut in the bark of the rootstock. Alternatively, in spring you can insert semi-hardwood cuttings (about 15 to 20 cm) with a slanting cut into free-draining, evenly moist soil. Pears root less easily than other woody plants, and the offspring are then not true to variety, but genetically distinct young trees on their own roots. Air layering is also possible: in spring, on a strong branch 10 to 20 cm from the shoot tip, remove a 2 to 3 cm wide ring of bark (including the cambium), wrap moist moss around it and seal it airtight with film; roots form after a few weeks. Pear and apple are more difficult to root than many other woody plants. Allow plenty of patience.