Train the growing branches up and keep the new shoots tied to these stakes. Tie the poles together and then tie the new growth from the respective leaders to these poles. Have a bamboo pole 1″x 9′ or 2″x2″ stake pushed into the ground and use one per leader for the first few years to train them straight. These multiple leaders will grow straight and tall if your trees have good vigor. Spread these branches apart slightly if they are not growing out away from each other. These 3 or 4 branches now become your principle leaders. The objective in this first year is to stiffen up the part of this branch you are keeping. Starting with a with 3-4 branches, cut off these shoots to no more than 12″ above the point of origin. The growth habit of pears lends itself to this system because their growth is so upright. Open center training enables you to develop 3 to 4 leaders that will spread all the vigor out over numerous primary branches verses one central leader. Several years ago we started experimenting with growing pears as an open center tree, with good success. Why? For pears, using the available dwarfing rootstocks ends up giving you a tree that can grow into a size and form of 15′ or more, which is too tall and difficult for most people to manage. We’ve given up growing pears as a central leader. If you’re just planting fruit trees for the first time, you might want to look at the Learn to Grow Fruit Trees page.
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