ClueLess60

Thanks all. I will try that Stere and report back.

Thanks again, everybody, for the help. Any advice on what to do and what not to do when transplanting them will be much appreciated.

I have had some great help on the forum concerning some apple trees, and hopefully someone will be able to assist on this subject too. I have searched several websites on diseases but can’t find anything like mine. This pear tree (I’m not sure what variety) I took on when I moved to the property 3 years ago. I would guess it is 10 years plus old, it stands about 10 to 11 ft high. Like a lot of the other trees in the garden, it had grown out of control. I have been pruning it slowly each year, and now it is reasonably manageable. In the summer, the leaves and fruit seemed to be healthy enough looking, not that it fruited that much, presumably because of the harder than normal pruning. Yesterday I noticed that the bark on the trunk and branches has a crazing/cracking to it, and in places is even coming away. This isn’t something I had noticed before, although there’s a chance it has been like this along, as I have had a lot on my plate since moving to the property.

The answers so far are very much appreciated, everybody. Some more help is required please. Having discussed it with the with the other half, it has been decided to remove the old trees altogether and replace them with the samplings planted in the border by the previous owner. Partly because of the brown rot they are inflicted with, but mainly because of the amount of room the current larger trees take up. As can be seen in the attached photo, where the saplings were planted near a beech hedge, which grew out of control while the property was unoccupied, they have grown with the branches to one side as they were searching for light. I’m wondering whether this may correct itself if I were to plant them with the branches pointing north, as presumably (I hope) they will be more inclined to straighten themselves out a bit as more of the light will be coming from the south. Or am I expecting too much?

Many thanks for the info, everyone, much appreciated. nepia, Is it advisable for all fruit trees to keep the turf away, young or old? I have more well-rotted compost than I know what to do with. Is this suitable to use over the cardboard, or does it need to be woodchip, straw? And out of interest, why cardboard? Does it have some magical properties?

Many thanks, Sandpiper, I have some young'ish trees the previous owner planted in the borders, presumably to replace the older ones when the time was right, so I think I might just bite the bullet and get rid of the diseased ones altogether and be done with it.

Thanks for the input, Muddy. I realise this but the question was to whether I will get away with removing all branches and the trees surviving.

Hopefully someone with far more experience than myself can advise. My garden has some apple and pear trees, some of which were in an overgrown state when I moved in due to the last owner passing away. I started the process of slowly pruning the trees a little at a time when I moved to the property 3 years ago, although I didn’t get some of them done last year due to ill health. Some trees are probably only around 5 to 6 years old and seem to be in good order, and I have pruned these for 3 years and seem to have them under control. The more mature trees, however, have severe brown rot, not only to most of the fruit produced but also, I believe, nearly all of the branches, even the really major ones. I have read a lot on the subject, so I have been careful to clear the affected fruit and remove it from the site. I am giving serious consideration to cutting everything down just to leave the stumps, with a view to hoping something viable and fruiting will re-grow. One reason for this would be to try and protect the other immature trees from catching it, as they currently seem to be disease-free. The second reason, they are rather large for the part of garden anyway. Thanks for any help you can provide.