- 1). Dip the blades of pruning shears in boiling water for 30 seconds, before and after use. Sterilizing will prevent diseases from being transmitted from other plantings to pruning wounds on the pear tree.
- 2). Stand back from your pear tree and look carefully at the structure of trunk and limbs. When you're finished, you want a single trunk or central leader, and five to seven horizontally growing scaffold branches that will produce fruit. If the pear tree has a double trunk, cut the weaker one away with long-handled pruning shears. Set the blades at a 45-degree angle down and away, leaving an angled stub.
- 3). Work your way up the tree, cutting away all limbs except for the scaffold branches. Scaffold branches should be spaced 10 to 12 inches apart on alternate sides, going up the central leader. Cut at the same 45-degree angle, leaving a 1/2-inch stub that will drain moisture instead of collecting it. Do not cut limbs flush with the trunk of a pear tree.
- 4). Snip off vertically growing branches from the scaffold limbs with short-handled pruning shears. Vertical branches will not grow fruit and will block light and air from the center of the tree, decreasing fruit production.
- 5). Snip off green shoots from the base of the trunk and upper limbs as they appear. These shoots, called suckers, do not produce fruit and will sap the energy of the tree with their vigorous growth. Trim any deadwood or storm-damaged branches whenever you see them.
- 6). Cut up limbs into manageable lengths and dispose of them in yard waste bags. Do not chip dead or diseased wood for mulch. Resterilize pruning equipment blades before storing them.
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