By Jeff Kanters, NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteer of Durham County

(Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

When counseling visitors on managing fruit trees at Briggs Avenue Community Gardens Teaching Orchard, I was occasionally asked about how to prune an older neglected fruit tree to a more manageable size. Typically, a homeowner had inherited a large, gnarly, tangled tree left from the previous homeowner or may have left a tree unmanaged over years.

Late fall of 2024 I had the opportunity to provide onsite consultation to a PTA volunteer crew at Hope Valley Elementary School seeking to renovate an older, 25-foot tall, neglected, unsightly Kieffer pear (Pyrus communis ‘Kieffer’) tree in a courtyard being re-landscaped.

Image of a Kieffer pear tree (Pyrus communis ‘Kieffer’) in bloom and closeup of its late-spring flowers. (Image credit: Gary Owens CC BY 2.0)

Researching the Tree

So what is a Kieffer pear? Kieffer pears are the result of an accidental cross between the Sand pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) native to Asia, and the common American Bartlett pear (Pyrus communis) during the 1860s. While it is often recommended to have two pear trees to produce the most fruit per cross-pollination, Kieffer pears, with their Asian ancestry, are self-fertile, meaning they are not as dependent on another pear nearby to cross-pollinate and set fruit. Kieffer pears are also very disease resistant.

Evaluating the Tree

To get started we inspected the tree, and observed the following:

• Overall, the core trunk bark appeared intact and healthy.
• The tree bore many pears during the past season and many large overripe pears were still hanging from the top upper most canopy as unreachable to harvest.
• Numerous dead and broken, large, jagged limbs protruded at the base of the tree and from along the lower trunk opening the tree up to disease.
• Rather than one central leader trunk, three competing leaders were all growing up close together and the crotch angles where the leaders grew from the core lower trunk were very narrow, and therefore weak and prone to splitting off from the tree during high winds.
• Many of the older limbs had tall branches or whips growing directly upward, inward toward the trunk, downward to the ground, and crossing over each other. Pears are one of the more unruly fruit trees to manage with their tendency to wildly send new growth upward in columnar fashion and scaffold branching to grow out every which way. When the tree was leafed out, this would result in shading the interior of the tree reducing air circulation and inviting diseases.

Kieffer pear before start of first pruning. (Image credit: Debra Pilkington)

Developing a Plan

To complete the tree rehabilitation, we set up the following phased three-year corrective pruning plan:

1. To begin, prune out about one third of the tree growth this first season. Since the tree was old,  taking too much would shock the tree and force unwanted, uncontrolled, excessive new branch growth the next season, making the canopy prone to sunburn and diseases. The team would follow this same method for the next three seasons to gradually reduce the tree height and shape.
2. Prune out all dead, diseased, and broken limbs and branches.
3. Prune out the branches growing upward, downward, inward, and crossing over into each other.
4. Select the largest central leader from the multiple leaders and remove the other smaller competitive leaders, thus leaving only one. This would also open the center of the tree to more air and sunlight.
5. After several years of corrective pruning, and bringing the top canopy down further, the rejuvenated tree should only require more manageable pruning, maintenance, and harvesting each year thereafter.

Identifying the Tools for the Job

Undertaking a project of this size required a team and key tools that included:

1. Ladder
2. Small battery powered hand chainsaw or small and large pruning saw, rather than a chain saw (Note of caution: No one should be alone and use any chain saw without the proper training, supervision, and use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
3. Telescopic saw and loppers
4. Hand loppers
5. Standard hand pruning shears
6. Safety helmet or head covering
7. Safety goggles
8. Gloves
9. Non-snag clothing
10. Heavy duty canvas pants
11. Heavy work boots or chainsaw boots with protective guarding at front instep

Kieffer pear during first pruning. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

Phase one pruning was successfully completed. One experienced volunteer opted to use his handheld battery-operated chain saw for removal of a few of the larger limbs. A large pruning saw would also have sufficed.

Kieffer pear at completion of first phase of pruning. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

Considering This Type of Project in the Home Landscape

If you are considering undertaking a renewal project of this type in your home landscape, keep the following in mind. Depending on the size of the tree, what limbs or branches need to be removed, and your skill at pruning, it may be safest and best to hire a trained, reputable, experienced arborist to make initial key cuts on the tree. You can supervise, but let professionals handle the most heavy-duty work. If you choose to do it yourself, you should have a few helpers on hand. Projects of this size should not be left to one person to perform alone.

If you use a ladder, as the ground is typically never flat around a tree, no one should be alone on the ladder, but rather have another spotter below holding the ladder for that person.

A last thought. While it may be a worthwhile project, before you consider rescue-pruning a large overgrown fruit tree, ask yourself a few questions:

• Is the tree viable, free of disease overall, and producing good fruit yet?
• Is tree worth the expense, effort, time, and risk to prune back?
• Would it be better to have the tree completely removed and replaced with a small young tree you can manage better from the outset?

Whatever your decision, rehabilitating an old fruit tree is something that can be done successfully.

Resources and Additional Information

Training and Pruning Fruit Trees in North Carolina:

https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/training-and-pruning-fruit-trees-in-north-carolina

How to Prune Neglected Apple Trees, Iowa State University Extension:

https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/how-to/how-prune-neglected-apple-trees#:~:text=Prune%20out%20all%20dead%2C%20diseased,over%202%20or%203%20years.

Pruning to Renovate Old Fruit Trees, Penn State Extension:

https://extension.psu.edu/home-gardening-pruning-to-renovate-old-fruit-trees

Operating a Chainsaw:

https://www.hse.gov.uk/treework/safety-topics/chainppe.htm

North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox:

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/pyrus-communis-kieffer

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