I couldn’t agree more. So much of the habitat work we do is a lost cause before it even begins. I’ve decided to give up on projects that are nothing more than a headache every year.
Kieffer pear
- Thread starter buckdeer1
- Start date
I couldn’t agree more. So much of the habitat work we do is a lost cause before it even begins. I’ve decided to give up on projects that are nothing more than a headache every year.
DrDirtNap
Active Member
I’m thinking like that more and more myself. I’d be afraid to add up all the dollars I’ve spent on wildlife trees that ended up dying.
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Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Amen on the headaches I've caused myself. I eventually learned that there's a big difference between "trying to change mother nature" and "letting nature grow what it wants to" with me just helping out a little bit. For instance, instead of clearcutting and planting totally different tree species it's a whole lot easier and more effective to go into that woods with a saw and herbicide and selectively removing some invasies to give nature a big boost.
And since this thread is on Keiffer Pears, I don't know how many people realize that a Keiffer Pear is an ideal tree species to plant in a small opening in a mature woods to give your mature woods a habitat boost, they compete very well with other trees, all they need is a little spot of sunlight to survive. I have several Keiffer Pear trees growing in the middle of a mature oak woods, I occasionally take the saw and give them just a spot of sunlight, if you don't do this they won't produce fruit. A bonus is that the flowers won't freeze as quickly if they are in the woods. These trees are the place to be to shoot a mature buck in early archery.
Triple C
Well-Known Member
The exact reason I planted them. Back in 2010, when I was searching for property, my son was hunting a tract that had really old mature pear trees on it and he swore the deer would dodge his arrows to get to the pears. I'm not down on what has happened to these trees. Truth is I haven't lost a single pear tree I've planted. Can't say the same for other trees. My guess is we will prune all the broken stuff off and the Kieffer's will do just fine. It's just that I seem to get wiped out with late frosts most years. Persimmons on the other hand require absolutely no effort...no pruning...no fertilizer...nothing. Other than sunshine. And those suckers producer every single year and deer will dodge arrows to get to them.
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
Pear trees are pretty impervious to wind. Much more so than apple trees. Growing up with an orchard I remember apples blowing over in heavy thunderstorms with rotational winds, right beside pears that stayed standing.
I reckon that's good news & bad news then. Good news for my pear trees but bad news is that I have 6 times as many apples haha!
Mennoniteman
Well-Known Member
I planted this keiffer pear two years ago as a 1/2" diameter 4' long bare root stick from Willis Orchards. Today, two years later it's 8' high, 1-1/4" in diameter, and has a dozen pears on it.
KSQ2
Well-Known Member
Our kieffer pear at the farm has some dark leaf curl. It has looked like this most of the summer. Is it simply a result of the drought? You can see some new growth in the second pic. Overall, the tree looks fine, not much growth, but that has been the case for all trees with the drought year.
Native Hunter
Well-Known Member
Pears can get fungal infections which look like that, but usually it doesn't end up causing any long term issues. I've seen trees that look like that and then look fine the next year. I personally wouldn't do anything if it was one of my trees.
