Can An Asian Pear Become Ornamental?

Question

We have some pear and apple trees and a few years after planting our goats got to them. I cut them to the ground and all have come back nicely with Bosc pears and apples coming in but our Asian pears look more like Bradford, very small in clusters. Is that just an immature Asian pear or can they become Ornamental?

Answer 1

You have cut off the scion. They are grafted to faster rootstock, which is usually a wild version, or commercial rootstock. These will not fruit, or produce very low quality fruit. Any significant injury to a grafted tree will cause a loss in the top scion. Depending on how much the goats took, the top can recover from some damage. But cutting to the ground will mean that only the grafted rootstock will come back.

This article will explain, further:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/tgen/can-grafted-trees-revert-to-their-root-stock.htm

Answer 2

Drats. I will try to remove these pears and get some more Asians. Thanks for the response!!

Answer 3

Can I cut back and graft in Asian pears again or can the trunk be too big for that?