Asian pear 'Nijisseiki'
asian pear 'Nijisseiki' ( syn. Pyrus pyrifolia '20th Century' )
Delivery options
- Standard £7.95
This tree is deciduous so it will lose all its leaves in autumn, then fresh new foliage appears again each spring.
- Position: full sun
- Soil: moderately fertile, moist, well-drained soil
- Rate of growth: average
- Flowering period: April
- Hardiness: fully hardy
This Asian pear impresses with its refreshingly sweet flavour and heavy crops of tender, juicy fruits. This variety bears numerous medium-sized round yellow pears with pleasantly tart notes and thin, crisp skin. The partially self-fertile trees will set some fruit alone but yield more abundantly with another Asian pear such as 'Kumoi'. Reaching an unpruned height of 2.5-4m (8-12 ft) on Pyrus rootstock, 'Nijisseiki' blooms with pretty white flowers in spring followed by ripe fruit in mid-August with pears ripening from green to golden yellow. It develops peak flavour when easily pulled from branches.
When planting your Asian pear, prepare a hole up to three times the diameter of its root system. Fork over the base of the pit in readiness, incorporating plenty of organic matter into the backfill and planting hole. Avoiding frozen and waterlogged soil, trees should be planted out as they arrive. If you've ordered a bare root tree, soak the roots in a bucket of water for half an hour prior to planting, or if this is not possible, they can be heeled in temporarily, covering their roots with soil, or potted up. Protect from cold, drying winds. Apply a balanced fertiliser in early spring to support growth and fruiting. Prune in late winter to maintain an open canopy shape and remove any diseased or damaged branches. Thin developing pears in early summer to improve fruit size if needed. Harvest when pears pull off the tree easily.