Cottrell Country Farm has expanded in 2026 adding a pear orchard. This is the first year of growing and it will most likely be a few more years before I have my own pears at the Hillsboro Farmers Market. However, in the meantime I partner with a neighbor to sell pears at the market during August.
A big part of properly growing pears is to correctly prune your trees. The first step is to start with good healthy trees. I could not find a nursery in the local area that met my standards, so I travel over two hours to get my pear trees. The first year of pruning you must shape the tree for future growth; thus, pruning is more severe. After that you take off 1/4 of the branches. When initial pruning, you need to think about how the sunlight will hit the branches. For example, you never want one branch directly over another, within two feet proximity, going in the same direction. Another key is to have a good set of shears. Spend the extra money on a good shears, you’ll be glad you did. Also, cleaning your shears is a MUST to prevent any disease from spreading from tree-to-tree. These are just a few of the critical pruning steps. I’ve posted some “after” pruning pictures so you can get an idea of the pear tree pruning process.
