Q: This is the 2nd spring with my Keiffer pear tree, it had eight pears last year. This year I’ve spot-counted 125. What’s the rule for removing some of the pears so I can have a good crop without breaking all the limbs?

A: Pear trees commonly overproduce young fruit. It’s good practice to remove small pears to get a better ratio of leaves to fruit.

My father was not so good about thinning pears so he would use tree branches and 2×4 lumber to hold limbs up when they were overloaded. Sometimes the limbs would crack off the tree and he would lose an entire branch. Even 15 years after his death those pear trees have a very droopy appearance due to the bent branches!

For a young tree like yours, thin fruit so there is 8″ – 10″ between each one. Don’t allow clusters to develop.

As the tree grows bigger ( when it has doubled in size) you can go to 6″ – 8″ between fruit.