Pyrus communis 'Beurre Hardy' (PEAR)

Description: Common name: Pear 'Beurré Hardy'. An old variety but still one of the finest flavoured dessert pears and so remains an excellent choice for the garden. Medium to large fruits which are soft and juicy and almost completely covered in bronze russet. Heavy cropping, harvest when fruit is still hard in mid- September and leave to ripen in store. Also makes an ornamental tree with branches covered in white blossom in spring and the leaves of this variety also turn bright red in autumn

Uses: For fruit production, or grown for spring blossom as an ornamental tree

Climate/Position: Open sunny position preferred. Blossom is supposedly frost resistant but fruit is improved by warm sheltered position

Height/Spread: 7 metres x 3 metres but will depend on training method and pruning

Soil Requirements: Fertile moisture retentive soil

Pruning: As with apples, Pears can be trained into a variety of shapes to include espalier against a wall or a single stemmed cordon. Therefore, pruning will depend upon the formation of the tree but this is undertaken in winter

Special Requirements: Pollination group B, for best crops grow with another variety of Pear