Conference Pear Trees

Conference Pear Trees: Eating, Mid-Late Season 

A delicious pear and one of the best choices for shadier and colder spots, Conference is the UK's most widely grown garden variety.

It is ideal for training on wires as a cordon or espalier and is the only variety we recommend for North facing walls.

Browse our range of pear trees, other mini patio trees, or all our fruit trees.

Delivery season: Bareroot plants are delivered in late Autumn to Spring, about November-March inclusive. Pot grown plants, year round. 

Features:

• Sold as a bareroot normal tree, or a potted Mini Patio tree.
• Spur bearer (good for cordons & espaliers)
• Partially Self Fertile.
• Pollination Group A.
• Excellent pollinator.
• Not recommended for Organic growing.
• Recommended for Scotland & the North or partially shady sites in the South.
• Harvest in September, ripen until November.
• RHS Award of Garden Merit
• RHS Plants for Pollinators
• Bareroot delivery: Nov-March
• Pot grown delivery: Year round

Pollination Partners for Conference:
It will fruit quite well by itself, but the crop size and fruit quality is much better when your trees are pollinated.
Conference is in pollination group A.
This means that it can cross-pollinate with any tree in Groups A or B.
Please see our guide to Pollinating Pear Trees for a full list of partners for Conference.

Growing Conference Pear Trees:
Rich soil is important - dig in plenty of good manure and compost before planting.
Soil drainage must be good.
The more sun your trees get the better your crops will be.

Diseases:
Some susceptibility to Canker, Mildew and Scab.
If you spray your trees when necessary, there should be no problem, but this is not a good tree for organic growing.

Did You Know?

Bred by Mr Thomas Rivers from Leon Leclerc de Laval and an unknown variety. It is named after the National British Pear Conference of 1885 where it was first displayed.

It is one of the parents of Concorde.

Pear Tree Delivery Shapes:

Most of our fruit trees are delivered in up to 3 shapes (maiden, bush, and half standard), and you can buy selected varieties as potted mini patio trees: scroll up to see what's in stock. 

Maiden: Unbranched tree, the most basic starting size, which you can train into cordons, espaliers, or the forms below (apart from mini patio trees).
Bush: Freestanding tree with a short trunk about 60cm tall. It will grow to about 3m. Ideal for small gardens.
Half-Standard: A freestanding form with a trunk about 120cm tall. It will grow into a full sized, "normal" tree, about 4m. Ideal for orchards, easy to mow underneath.

Cordon: Conference  is a spur-bearer, suitable for cordons and espaliers.
Mini Patio Tree: Only sold pot-grown, these use a dwarfing rootstock to drastically reduce the tree's vigour and restrict the mature size. They are suitable for large patio containers, and for small gardens where a normal-sized bush or half-standard form won't fit.

Guide to Fruit Tree Sizing.

7.5 to 12 litres are potted non-patio trees are not meant to be kept in pots; they will be fine for up to 12 months until planted in the ground. Keep well watered (but not soaked).

Growing Mini Patio Trees in Pots:
Dwarf trees do very well in large containers of Rocket Gro Fruit & Veg Compost. During summer, it is essential to provide consistent moisture, without overwatering, and to feed lightly. 
Change as much of the compost as you can every three years.

Prepare your site before planting:
Improving the soil helps trees establish quickly and be productive for years. Preparing weeks or months in advance gives best results: fill the planting hole back up, don't leave it open to either dry out or fill with water.

• Destroy weeds and grass (use Neudorff WeedFree Plus weed-killer for tough weeds),
• Dig the soil over, remove stones, then mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades, unless you are on heavy clay:
• On thick clay soil, only dig in some grit to improve drainage and raise the level a little. Then apply organic matter as a mulch over the soil as normal.

Spacing pear trees

• Freestanding bushes: 15-18 feet (5-6m) between trees and rows.
• Freestanding half-standards: 18-30 feet (6-10m) between trees and rows.

In general, allow 1 more metre between rows than between trees along the row.

• Wire-trained cordons: 60-100cm apart along a row.
• Espaliers: 10-18 feet (3.5-6m) apart.

• Watch how to plant a fruit tree for a bush or half-standard.
• To grow a cordon or espalier, you need to install sturdy training wires.

Remember to water establishing trees during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Accessories:
For bush and half standard trees, a tree planting pack, which includes a wooden support stake & rubber tie (a bamboo cane is enough support for a maiden), and a biodegradable mulch mat, with pegs, to preserve soil moisture stops and prevent weeds.

We strongly recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of all transplanted trees.

Winter wash and grease are effective, organic pest prevention.