Ask Gerry

A pear tree, planted 3 years ago, looks really healthy and produced flowers this year but they didn't develop into fruit. Should we have pollinated them by hand, perhaps?

The pear tree in our garden seems to be attacked by a beetle which bores holes into it. There are exit holes from the larvae and plenty of saw dust around it (see photos). As a result the leaves turn brown and curl up. (The bark of the tree appears white in the photos because we whitewashed it in an attempt to kill the beetles. We also had cut the tree to build a treehouse in it. The trunk is growing through the treehouse).What kind of beetle would you reckon it is and what would be the best kind of treatment?

Our pear tree was falling over due to major rat problem there were lots of tunnels/nests all around and in its roots, different coloured families of rats etc we have just moved it today and it is full of fruit, but is it safe for our family to eat the fruit?

I'm very new to gardening, planted a Conference pear tree, the poor thing needs help, can you identify the problem and tell me the cause and cure please, there are brown spots on top of leaves which are black on the underside, fruits are going black, i planted it last year and it did the same, please can you advise me

I have 3 Pear trees, all of which appear to have what looks like fire blight. I have taken a cutting to my local garden center and was told they had an issue like mine and destroyed their affected trees after sending samples to lab for testing. The results returned negative but I'm not convinced. Any ideas what my trees might have?? Yesterday, under advice from Garden Center, I cut away blackened parts and I fed and sprayed with a seaweed growth stimulant. Really can't afford to replace my trees. Any suggestions??

We have a mature pear tree in our garden which has developed rust spots on the leaves. On the other side of the rust spot is a growth - we have discovered it is a disease called Pear Trellis Rust. Are you aware of any cure for this? Other websites we have researched on seem to point to the fact the tree needs to be removed.

I recently bought a house that has a mature gardens and it has 2/3 pears trees, I never took much notice of them but I saw last night that there is a few pears growing on them. When i looked closer I noticed that all/if not most of the leaves have got brown spots on them. Is this normal for this time of yr or have the trees become diseased. There is moss growing on the tree and branches but being an old garden most of the trees have it so I didn't think it was anything abnormal. There is also another moss like plant growing on them, it look for all the world like cigerette ash for far way and just flakes off when u pull at it. Shoud I try and treat the trees or is this normal? some branches have died and im worried this moss is destroying it. I have also noticed it on some of the smaller apple trees as well. If i do need rid what type of product would I treat the trees with. I really hate the idea of the trees dying

Every year my 4 cordon pear trees get these black tiny slug like insects all over their leaves. They suck the chlorophyll out of the leaves and ruin them. I squash as many of them as possible but wonder if I can get rid of this recurring problem. I don't like using chemical controls if at all possible.

We have a lot of fruit growing on our pear trees. Does this effect the quality of the pears and should we thin this out and if so when?

What causes premature fruit drop on my pear tree. Other pear planted beside it is fine.drainage is ok. I have been feeding with sulphate of potash

Is this Pear Scab Disease? It is only on a few of the pears on my only tree.

2 Pears trees with promising crop now show serious mosiac like splitting on some and brown spotting on all fruits. Is this weather related or disease?

My Pear tree which I have for 2 years has not borne any fruit, when should I expect pear to fruit? There are alot of branches and leavesAlso I have another dual pear tree, one section has leaves but the other section seems to have died, what would cause thisMy apple trees this year, some have fruit which are not great and my other tree lost their leaves and did not bear any fruit, is the weather too wet??

When and how is the best time to prune a pear tree. I bought one 2 years ago. No fruit yet, when do they fruit?

I planted 3 apple trees and two pear trees last year. All are good except for 1 pear tree, the leaves have black/brown spots on them and the tree looks like it is dying. I water them regularly.