Pear Trees (Pyrus communis)
If you are looking to plant a fruit tree, remember that pear trees require less spraying than peaches, plums, or apples and are easy to train to fit small spaces in a yard. Pear trees come in two sizes. Dwarf trees grow less than 15 feet tall but can be pruned to remain at only 8 to 10 feet. Standard trees will reach 30 to 40 feet, but can be pruned to stay at 20 feet. Before you choose a pear tree, ask yourself how much fruit you really want to harvest from your back yard. After five years a dwarf tree will yield about a bushel of pears each year. Standard trees will not bear much fruit before 6 to 8 years after planting, but will then produce a substantial yield of 5 to 10 bushels in an average harvest—that’s more pears than most families would want to handle. Personally, I prefer dwarf pear trees. You can have more than one variety in the same space that the standard tree takes, and they are much easier to care for.

About Pear Trees
Foliage - Pear tree leaves are shaped like elongated eggs. Foliage is a glossy light green in season, showing a good fall display in October. Some types of pear trees have silvery or grayish leaves. Some types also bear thorns.

Flowers -The common pear is no slouch when it comes to giving you a beautiful display of blooms in the early spring. Individual pear blossoms are about 1 1/4 inches across. Pale white, they appear in delicate clusters before leaves emerge.

Fruit - The fruits have a distinctive shape and are green when they first appear on the tree. Although some varieties are red, most ripen to a yellow which is often russeted and blushed with red or pink. Dwarf trees will bear fruit three to five years after planting.