Too late to prune?

I am afraid it's too late in the season to prune this pear tree.

Well... its probably not an ideal time according to most places I have heard/read.

On the other hand, there are some people, who really know what they are doing, who prune all year round if needed.

are you trying to encourage more growth? generally the winter prune leads to more water sprouts/vertical growth, and an early summer ‘june prune’ discourages the same. it doesn’t seem to me like that little guy is that badly in need of pruning. it could wait.

Can you share what's in the attachment?  A lot of readers on permies don't have fancy Internet.

Current wisdom from our local horticultural society is to prune year round.  But less in the winter as frozen weather on an open wound increases damage and die back.  

Personally,  we do the main shaping when the tree is dormant (but no threat of frost in the next three nights), the  the mild pruning after the fruit has set.  That way we get more flowers and more pollinators and more fruit set.  Then we can trim off the branches we don't need so the tree doesn't get too much fruit and thus break branches we didn't want broken.

The aim would to bring about more fruiting.
I want to eliminate crossed branches and bend over vertical branches.
I did this with another pear treelast winter and it produced like crazy.
It also created a lot of water sprouts, as you mentioned.
Those sprouts became cuttings this winter.

Im not worried about missing out on a season or two of fruit, just worried about inflicting fatal wounds.

I prefer to prune whenever the tools are sharp. Just not in the coldest part of winter, or in the late fall.

Another good time to prune is during harvest as I can see which branches are broken from the fruit and which are in the way of picking the rest of the fruit.  

Is there a maximum amount you all are pruning at one time? Has there been a time you wished you had pruned less, or the outcome was not what you hoped? Our neglected apple is in sore need of pruning. We trimmed off quite a few branches a couple of weeks or so ago, and it could use a lot more, as it’s probably been a decade since last pruning, but I’m guessing it’ll take a few years to get where we want it to be without shocking the tree too much.

I've never pruned a tree to much.
I pruned that one pear very hard, and I got great results.
On the other hand, I took a look at another pear tree today and decided I would prune it lightly, if at all.
It's tucked in a tight shady spot between two house, on the north side of an opaque fence and kind of behind a tall evergreen tree.
The bulk of the branches form tight crotches and none of the fruit forms where it can be picked.
The tree has found a way to thrive despite the crappy spot I gave it, and I  don't think I can do much better.
I might bend some branches,  but the narrow angles make that tricky to pull off.

As a pruning expert told me last year, any pruning is better than no pruning, and this refers a bit to the timing as well.

Where I live every little town has its horticultural society, and each one is holding a pruning hands-on training in spring. Normally they are on weekends starting beginning of March all through March. The latest date I have seen this year is beginning of April by the beekeepers' association.

But all times from winter to early spring are ok as long as there is no frost, and before the buds start to open.

If I do prune, ill try to take photos,though I can't seem to post imbedded photos from my phone the way I used to.

I live on Front Range of Colorado (zone 5b). I have been pruning apples and pears in mid-March. Our trees are still dormant and buds small. We’ve had a pretty warm, dry winter here. Lots of days in 50’s and 60’s (until a wet snow today). Our last frost is usually late April and fruit trees usually bloom in mid-May here. Our main concern with pruning too late is fireblight, which is prevalent here. So we try not to prune near budding/blooming because that is when this spreads. I also try not to prune if there’s  wet weather in the forecast. If you’re concerned trees are waking up, it could still be fine to prune out dead wood, broken branches and crossing/rubbing branches (as long as you aren’t worried about fireblight).

As others have mentioned, summer pruning can be better for shaping/reshaping older trees. And many like to prune stone fruit closer to bloom time (due to concerns about other diseases).

I’m a fan of Oren Martin and he has good videos about pruning on the UC Santa Cruz website. And a good book.
Good luck!

Anita Martin wrote:As a pruning expert told me last year, any pruning is better than no pruning, and this refers a bit to the timing as well.

Where I live every little town has its horticultural society, and each one is holding a pruning hands-on training in spring. Normally they are on weekends starting beginning of March all through March. The latest date I have seen this year is beginning of April by the beekeepers' association.

But all times from winter to early spring are ok as long as there is no frost, and before the buds start to open.

I think that's about right. There are better and worse times to prune but skipping it for a year is worse than pruning mid summer. For anyone in a city you'll note that tree crews out are pruning and chainsawing trees from spring all the way through fall, and the trees still stand.