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I have bought a pear tree recently. It is potted (still) and has several branches and is about five feet high, and all the leaves have dropped.
I have noticed that a couple of the thinner branches have lenghts of darkened wood alternating with the normal colour - what could that mean?

I don't know if this happens over there, but we have these lovely little bugs called Cicadas over here that do that kind of damage. Mostly on young-ish fruit trees in fact.

They appear in cycles, some kinds every 7 years, and some have a longer interval. They come up out of the ground, slice into the branches of your young fruit trees, lay their eggs under the bark, and leave. The black damage (and sometimes the death of the entire tree) is due to the loss of sap from the sliced open places.

If that's what you have you're supposed to prune off the affected branches at least 4 inches below the black part, dress with pruning tar, and burn the prunings, within 6 weeks of the time the Cicadas appeared.

Pears are pretty tough things in the UK - they don't suffer from too much (and we don't have cicadas, MMM, which is sometimes a pity on long, warm summer evenings. They'd probably drive us mad, though).

Fireblight may be a possibility - DEFRA have some advice on the net - but it doesn't sound like that.

Mike

How long has it been in the pot? Is it posible that it's pot-bound and has been either over- or under-watered for some time?

Even if it's 5 ft high including the pot,thats a big big tree for a pot,I would want it in at least a 25 ltre pot.I'm with George,odds on it's pot bound,and had a bit of a struggle.Plant as soon as,big hole tons of compost ,water well before,and very well after,,,small stake etc etc.Don't cut back the dead wood for a month of so.Bit of luck by this time next year it should look vastly better............still rather plant trees 'open ground' though.....Best Wishes.

As I bought it at a reduced price, I suspect it's been in the pot for quite some time! I plan to put it in the ground this week-end but I did want some idea of what might be wrong in case the disturbance might have had an adverse effect.

If it's been in a garden centre for a while it's possible that it's physical damage. People brushing past it, tickets being hung on it, that sort of thing. Hopefully, a bit of TLC will see it right.

Zoe

I planted a pear tree last year and I'd like to know if I can deepen the ground around it or would the soil/compost around the lower part of the trunk damage it? Could I or should I not do the same with a newish apple tree?

Hi tulip,

Usually not a good idea since you are likely to cover the point where the fruiting part of the tree is connected to the root stock (sorry, English word escapes me right now).

You can give the tree compost, but keep a circle around the stem free of it.

Good luck.

graft - keep the soil level below the graft mark