I planted a pear tree 2 years ago and this year it has set some fruit. However, it seems to have a problem with some of the leaves curling and going brown/black in parts, and shriveling. Does anyone know what this could be and what to do?
Could be pearleaf blister mites, Kim. Hard to tell in your photo but are you getting pale green blister-like spots on the upper leaf surface? The mites themselves are really hard to see without a lens or microscope. If this is the problem, lime-sulfur spray your tree next winter. Should help. In the meantime, pray the predators will find your ābuffet feastā.
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Ah, thank you for that! We actually did give it a dormant spray early this year, but perhaps it wasnāt thorough enough.
The damned deer ate the newly forming pears 
Wellā¦Iām envious that you are at least getting fruit! We have two pear trees (different varietals) and neither produced fruitā¦and just a very few blossoms. Both tress are about 8 years old and look healthy. For the past two years (since we moved to the property) Iāve mulched with sea soil. We even hired someone last year to help (and train me) with the pruning. Any thoughts would be appreciated. We are thinking we will summer prune this yearā¦supposedly this helps with fruit generation?
Iām no expert but just looked up pruning pear trees in an excellent little pruning book I have called āCavendish Gardens Handbook of Pruning & Trainingā. Hereās a scan of the instructions there, but your trees might be older than this is referring to. Maybe it will be useful. I have a friend in Victoria with pear tree that is HUGE, and never pruned, but every year has a ton of fruit. Go figure!
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Do you know what type of pears you have? Most varieties need cross-pollination from another variety. Example: our conference pear is pollinated by a different pear type in the neighbourās yard. If both of your pear trees are the same variety, this would explain why you are not getting any fruit. Hope you can find out which variety you have! Re summer pruningā¦this āJune pruneā as it is calledā¦is to remove the new spurs which have grown since the earlier pruning. These spurs should be removed so the treeās energy goes into fruit development rather than growing more branches. (Hint: this is why espalier fruit trees make sense. Saves having to haul the ladder out again!)
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Thanks Kim and Leslie! Weāre pretty sure our two pear trees are different varieties-the leaves are very different from each other.
Our first winter on the property they were both pruned by a professional (Linda Pritchard). They threw up quite a few suckers that I didnāt (unfortunately) remove. The following winter I pruned one of the trees only (hedging my bets). Still neither of them produced. They are both very bushy and large now and really need to be cut back Apparently summer pruning Is good when you want to ādownsizeā your treeā¦and they say it also helps with fruit production the following year
Iām thinkIng I really have nothing to lose but my timeā¦ 
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