Planting guide

When to plant pear

Long-lived and cold-hardy; many need a second variety for pollination. In Melbourne it goes in Jun–Aug.

Start as: Potted plant or Bare-root plant
Ready in: 4+ years to the first crop
Spacing: 400 cm
Depth: 0 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Some care
Frost-tender: No

When it goes in

● means pear can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Melbourne	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Brisbane	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Perth	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Adelaide	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Gold Coast	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Newcastle	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Sunshine Coast	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Canberra	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Central Coast	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Geelong	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Wollongong	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Hobart	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Townsville	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Cairns	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Toowoomba	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Darwin	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Ballarat	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Mandurah	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Bendigo	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Launceston	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Mackay	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Rockhampton	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Coffs Harbour	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Blue Mountains	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
Bunbury	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Bundaberg	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Alice Springs	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Mildura	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Port Macquarie	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Wellington	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Christchurch	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	○	○	○
London	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Manchester	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Edinburgh	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
New York City	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Chicago	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Austin	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Toronto	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Johannesburg	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○
Singapore	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Mumbai	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○
Paris	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●
Berlin	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant pear

Plant bare-root in winter, in sun and deep soil.
Check pollination partners.
Prune in winter to an open shape.
Pick firm and ripen indoors.

Pear varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Williams Classicheavy-cropper · 21–29 wksClassic juicy pear
Packham's Triumph Classicheavy-cropper · storage · 23–30 wksGreen, stores well
Beurre Bosc Classicstorage · sweet · 24–31 wksLong-necked, brown-skinned eating pear
Josephine de Malines Adventurousheirloom · sweet · 24–31 wksWinter pear, pink-flesh
Nashi Adventuroussweet · low-chill · 20–27 wksCrisp Asian pear; low chill
Conference Classicstorage · 21–29 wksBritish favourite

Where to buy seedlings

Search on QP Seedlings Search on Amazon

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Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Garlic, Chive, Comfrey

Pear by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Lemon · Lime · Apple · Fig · Avocado · Banana

Not sure pear is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now