QuestionQUESTION: I found a pear tree in my yard in Gloucester, Virginia, in the midst of a lot of bushes and plant debris...I removed the bushes and found this rather old pear tree infested with vines and as I pulled the vines out I found it also infected with some ants where the vine pulled off the bark...I preceeded to take off the vines and to scrape out some of the rotten bark where the ants where...just wondering if I should have done this or what I need to do to insure its health the tree though skinny is about atleast thirty feet tall and already has branches bearing edible fruit...though the fruit has a lot of black coloring on it... I was also wondering if there is any way to save or transplant a branch that seems to have been broken a while but is still connected and seeming healthy though it is touching/ leaning on the ground... it has fruit on it and is atlest like 8 feet long...
thanks....
tony
ANSWER: The vines needed to be gotten off the trunk. Over time they would have choked out the foliage and the pears. You maybe able to proprogate the pear from cuttings. You will only need the new growth for say the last 10-12 inches of the branch. I would dip it in a root hormone. Apply 0.8% IBA (Rooting hormone) stick in well drained moist soil in a quart size type pot. I would do this next spring just before the leaves put on. Leave in the soil until the sprout starts to grow new growth. Let it grow until the Fall and then you can plant it out where you want it.
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QUESTION: So, the rotten bark and the ants on the main trunk of the tree, what do I do about that?
AnswerI would leave the bark alone. Over time it will grow back to normal,. The vines caused the weakening of the bark and decomposed it. The ants can be sprayed with any ant spray. Raid etc. Or you can treat the area with an ant bait that should kill the ant colony.
