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Pear tree snapped

 
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Hi I planted a grafted pear tree around December. It's about three feet tall. Its still basically a twig with buds right now no leaves yet or anything. Anyway not sure what happened but it is snapped in half, a little tiny piece still holding the top on. Don't know much about trees so was wondering if there's anyway to get it to heal or if I should just chop off the broken part, and I'd so is there an optimal way to do so. Hoping to hear back from anyone and thanks.
 
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Hi Christiana and welcome to Permies! Sorry to hear about your tree and that it's not something happier inspiring you to post.
Do you know if the tree broke above or below the graft point? If above, I'd think it'd be easiest to just cut off the broken part, but leave as much of the grafted material as possible. Of course, I'm no expert either. Hopefully someone will have a better answer for you and you'll be able to save your tree!
 
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Heather Sharpe wrote:Hi Christiana and welcome to Permies! Sorry to hear about your tree and that it's not something happier inspiring you to post.
Do you know if the tree broke above or below the graft point? If above, I'd think it'd be easiest to just cut off the broken part, but leave as much of the grafted material as possible. Of course, I'm no expert either. Hopefully someone will have a better answer for you and you'll be able to save your tree!




It was above the graft point.
 
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Heather is correct.   cut it off below the break, about 1 inch above a bud.
 You could probably mend it but it would be a weak point that could re-break after tree has grown a few years.
 It will grow just fine and you can start shaping it the way you want next winter.
 
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I just tape it up with electrical tape then support the top with some sticks in the ground.  It's a lot like grafting.  It has about 75% success rate if the snap happened in the winer.  
 
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I had a spare pear branch laying around, so I had some fun taking some pictures of what I've done before and had good luck with.

When I broke it, I tried to push it back together and had trouble resetting it, as the fibers pushed against each other and didn't join back together well. If the break had been cleaner it might have worked better.

I cut it back to the first healthy bud below the break point, with a slightly diagonal cut, so that water will run off of the wound area and won't pool up and cause rot or disease issues.

The new growth will most likely be vigorous and grow quickly to replace the broken piece. The wound should also heal pretty quickly with it being so close to an active growing area, without there being much (if any) dead wood.

Hope your tree recovers quickly and you get some tasty pears soon!
20210225_185112.jpg
Broken pear
Broken pear
20210225_185201.jpg
Closeup of the break and when I tried pushing it back together
Closeup of the break and when I tried pushing it back together
20210225_185257.jpg
Getting ready to cut the branch diagonally right above the bud
Getting ready to cut the branch diagonally right above the bud
20210225_185341.jpg
The cut is made
The cut is made
20210225_185350.jpg
Closeup of the cut
Closeup of the cut
20210225_215048.jpg
My prediction on what the new growth will look like
My prediction on what the new growth will look like
 
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I would trim it cleanly back to a bud and let it regrow. I dropped a large tree limb on an established pear tree about three years ago. I trimmed it clean it burst back again with vigorous growth. The root stock should be well established already.
 
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