*Pear Trees* Zone 3a - Newbie Acquired Fruit Trees and Needs Advice

Good Morning,

I came across these forums while browsing the internet and was astonished by all the knowledgeable members who take their time to provide advice to others; so, I thought I would try my luck… thank you in advance to those who can help out!


Background Info:

-I consider myself an “amateur†in the garden as I have only recently moved into a home with actual gardening potential.

-Upon moving into our home in December, we were handed a diagram labelling the fruit trees we currently have in our yard and were simply told that all fruit was edible. I have done absolutely nothing this year to the trees as I figured I would use our first summer to see what grows. Surprisingly, Mother Nature has taken good care of the trees on her own and almost all of the trees have produced fruit.

-I don’t know how old the trees are; however, the house was built in 2002, so I could assume that they are no older than 7 years.

-I live in Calgary, AB, which according to my research is in Zone 3a.


I am going to post each of our trees (with pics) in separate posts and here’s where you come in; I need help/advice/feedback regarding the following:


-Do you know what specific species of pear/apple/plum/cherry tree this is?

-What kind of maintenance/pruning/etc. needs to be done to reach its maximum potential?

-When do I harvest the fruit?

-How do I store the fruit?

-Is it ripe enough to eat or will it never ripen to a point where it is edible based on our planting zone?

-Lastly, if you know of any good online resources, I would be grateful if you could drop me some links.

Here's the next tree:

Pear Trees

First Pic - These little pears don’t seem to want to grow. I remember reading something about them ripening further after being removed from the tree… but I’m thinking these fruit are just too small. The tree itself seems to be very healthy, no aphids or ants present. *Couldn't get pic of pear to upload but they are no bigger than a golf ball*

Second Pic - There is also another tree labelled as pear, however it did not produce any fruit. I am curious whether it is because it looks as though the previous owner chopped down the main trunk…so much for a “treeâ€.

Third Pic - There’s one last pear tree that stands alone, away from the other fruit trees and evergreens. It did not flower/produce fruit; however, it also looks very young to me… could this be why it hasn’t produced fruit? Or does it have to do with this “pollination†buzz I have yet to figure out…