• Home
  • Contact
  • Site Map
George Weigel - Central PA Gardening
  • Landscape 1
  • Landscape 2
  • Landscape 3
  • Landscape 4
  • Garden Drawings
  • Talks & Trips
  • Patriot-News/Pennlive Posts
  • Buy Helpful Info

Navigation

  • Storage Shed (Useful Past Columns)
  • About George
  • Sign Up for George's Free E-Column
  • Plant Profiles
    • Annuals
    • Edibles
      • Blueberries
      • Cucumber 'Fanfare'
      • Cilantro/Coriander
      • Cardoon
      • Tricolor sage
      • Tomato 'Black Krim'
      • Potato 'Red Norland'
      • Pepper 'Hungarian Hot Wax'
      • Swiss Chard 'Bright Lights'
      • Beet 'Bulls Blood'
      • Asparagus 'Purple Passion'
      • Kohlrabi
      • Rosemary
      • Carrot 'Sugarsnax'
      • Cabbage 'OS Cross'
      • Malabar spinach
      • Kale 'Redbor'
      • Butternut squash
      • Creeping thyme
      • Cucumber 'General Lee'
      • Head lettuce 'Igloo'
      • Fig 'Chicago Hardy'
      • Pepper 'Mad Hatter'
      • Broccoli Green Magic
      • Asian pear
      • Onion 'Walla Walla Sweet'
      • Bean Mascotte
      • Radish Red Planet
      • Basil Amazel
      • Zucchini 'Cocozelle'
      • Greek oregano
      • Pea ‘Oregon Sugar Pod II’
      • Cabbage 'Katarina'
      • Broccoli ‘Packman’
      • Tomato Valentine
      • Cucumber 'Tasty Green'
      • Pawpaw
      • Basil Prospera
      • Potato 'Yukon Gold'
      • Cherry Tomato 'Sungold'
      • Chives
      • Golden oregano
      • Leeks
      • Pepper 'Colossal'
      • Purple basil
      • Purple garden sage
      • Red beet 'Red Ace'
      • Red cabbage
      • Rhubarb
      • Tomato 'Big Beef'
      • Tomato 'Brandy Boy'
      • Tomato 'Tomatoberry'
    • Roses
    • Bulbs/Corms/Tubers
    • Evergreens/Conifers
    • Flowering shrubs
    • Ornamental Grasses
    • Perennials
    • Trees
    • Vines
  • Timely Tips
  • George’s Handy Lists
  • George's Friends
  • Photo Galleries
  • Links and Resources
  • Support George’s Efforts


George’s new “50 American Public Gardens You Really Ought to See” e-book steers you to the top gardens to add to your bucket list.

Read More | Order Now





George’s “Pennsylvania Month-by-Month Gardening” helps you know when to do what in the landscape.

Read More | Order Now







George’s “Survivor Plant List” is a 19-page booklet detailing hundreds of the toughest and highest-performing plants.

Click Here






Has the info here been useful? Support George’s efforts by clicking below.




Looking for other ways to support George?

Click Here

Asian pear

* Common name: Asian pear (sometimes called “apple pears” or Oriental pears)

An Asian pear tree espaliered along a brick wall.

* Botanical name: Pyrus pyrifolia

* What it is: This relatively small fruit tree is an Oriental relative of our common European pears, but it produces round, golden, baseball-sized fruits that look – and crunch – like apples. They ripen in early fall.

Asian pear is one of the easier fruit trees to grow at home, so long as you manage to sidestep the primary threat of a fatal fire-blight disease.

A few varieties (such as ‘Hinsui’) are self-fertile, but you’ll get more fruits by planting at least two trees. The first crops should bear fruit three to five years after planting.

Asian pears are seldom sold in garden centers, so you’ll probably need to order by catalog or online.

* Size: Most varieties grow 12 to 15 feet tall and wide in 15 to 20 years, although dwarf varieties are available that stay in the 8- to 10-foot range.

Asian pears look more like apples.

* Where to use: Best fruiting is in a full-sun location with good drainage. Trees flower in spring and are good-looking enough to use anywhere in the landscape, including the front yard.

Asian pears also can be espaliered up south- or west-facing walls or supports.

* Care: Plant in spring, and keep new trees consistently damp the first two seasons to establish the roots. Then soak every two or three weeks during hot, dry spells.

Scatter a balanced, organic, granular fertilizer over the surrounding bed early each spring.

Prune at the end of each winter to thin crossing branches and excess growth and to keep tree open enough for good air flow through the branches.

When fruits have reached the size of cherries by June, thin them to leave just one fruit per cluster. This gives you fewer but bigger fruits.

Unlike European pears, allow Asian pears to stay on the tree until they fully mature. Sample a few to determine when they’re fully sweet and perfectly crunchy (not too hard and not starting to turn soft from over-ripeness).

Asian pears are hardy enough that they don’t need any winter protection.

* Great partner: None. Just mulch the ground in a 6-foot diameter ring under trees. Asian pears make a good addition to any home orchard.


  • Home
  • Garden House-Calls
  • George's Talks & Trips
  • Disclosure

© 2025 George Weigel | Site designed and programmed by Pittsburgh Web Developer Andy Weigel using WordPress