Hello Linda,

How frustrating! Is there any chance that you have photos of the pears from last year? That could help me diagnose what's going on.

Good Morning Linda,

I totally understand! Who wants photos of ugly fruit?

Without images, it's difficult to get an exact ID, but based on your description there's a chance that you're dealing with Stony Pit Disease or a form of blight. You can take a look at this handy list from Utah State to see if any of the images match what you've been seeing. That will help with any acute issues.

As for general pear health, since pears of all varieties are fairly susceptible to disease and insect pressure, the key is good "cultural management." This means making sure that you're taking care of the physical shape and environment of the tree.

A full guide from our friends at UMN is available here. I highly recommend reading through it; their guides tend to be excellent and this one in particular really touches on some key aspects of tree care.

The big things that I would personally focus on here in Vermont are:

- Rake up the fallen leaves and fruit at the end of the season since many pests and diseases can overwinter in the fallen detritus.
- Do an annual pruning, ideally in early spring, to open up the canopy. This allows good airflow since excess moisture aids the growth of many diseases, it also provides better photosynthetic efficiency.
- Add well-aged compost around the base of the tree. Even though the article recommends doing this only in cases of low growth, what we're trying to do is introduce enough beneficial microorganisms to the soil that we're out-competing other disease-causing organisms. (There are obviously many other benefits to adding compost).
- Mulch around the tree to prevent competition from weeds.

After these first practices, you can certainly consider more advanced steps included in that article, but often this will be enough to help your tree begin to thrive!

Hope this helps! Happy gardening!