Pear Duchess: description, photo, reviews, planting

Content

1 Description of the variety
- 1.1 Summer variety
- 1.2 Description of the winter variety
2 Landing rules
3 How to care for a tree
4 Review
5 Conclusion

The Duchess variety is one of the most widespread in the world. In Europe, this pear is known as Williams; in the CIS, the variety is called Duchess. The pear has earned wide popularity and worldwide fame for its many positive qualities: it is unpretentious to soil and climate, produces consistently high yields, Duchess fruits always receive high tasting marks, they are well stored and are suitable for transportation and processing. It is recommended to grow Duchess both in private farms and on an industrial scale - the variety is universal. Several varieties are known pears, the most persistent of them are successfully grown in Russia.

A description of the Duchess pear, recommendations for planting and growing it, photos and reviews from gardeners about this variety can be found in this article. Here we will talk about the two most popular types of Duchess, and give brief instructions on growing a pear tree.

Description of the variety

The Duchess pear has a very ancient history. It first appeared in the mid-eighteenth century. The variety was developed by a breeder from the English county of Berkshire. The original name of the variety is Williams, in honor of the farmer who first presented the pear at an international exhibition.

Important! The word “duchess” is translated as “duchess”, that is, the variety is endowed with such qualities as thoroughbred, pride, beauty.

The variety has many varieties, among them Duchess de Bordeaux is most often cultivated, Rouge Delrabu, Angoulême, Winter and Summer pear. It is worth talking about the last two species in more detail, since they are the ones most often grown in the country’s gardens.

Summer variety

The Duchess Summer pear variety is characterized primarily by its unpretentiousness to the composition and type of soil. Of course, the largest harvests can be achieved only on fertile and well-moistened soil, but Duchess can develop and bear fruit normally in any corner of the country.

Summer Duchess blooms relatively late; the inflorescences of this species are large and very beautiful. It is imperative to take into account the fact that this variety is not self-fertile, that is, the tree needs pollinators to set pears. It is recommended to plant varieties with approximately the same flowering time next to Summer Duchess. The following pollinators are suitable for the Duchess pear:

Forest Beauty;
Bere Bosc;
Kappa's favorite;
Williams Bon-Chrétien.

Duchess flowers are resistant to low temperatures; they rarely freeze even in severe return frosts. The first fruits begin to set somewhere around 5-6 years after planting the tree.

The summer pear has medium-sized fruits, weighing about 170 grams. Each mature tree can bear up to 250 kg of fruit, which makes it possible to declare the high yield of Summer Duchess.

The shape of the fruit is elongated, the surface is lumpy, the peel is thin, yellowish, with small black specks. Pears have a very strong and pleasant aroma. The pulp of Summer Duchess is tender, very sweet and tasty, and has a subtle aroma of nutmeg. At tastings, the fruits deserve at least 4.8 points.

Harvesting begins in the second half of August.The fruits can be stored for 1-1.5 months (at a temperature of +1-+5 degrees), they tolerate transportation well. Pears are suitable for fresh consumption; they make very healthy and nutritious dried fruits, aromatic preserves, confitures and jams.

The description of the Duchess Summer variety will be more complete if we talk about all its advantages, such as:

unpretentiousness to climate and soil;
resistance to certain diseases, including scab;
large and very beautiful fruits;
excellent taste of pears;
possibility of storage, which is rare for summer varieties;
universal purpose;
high yield.

The variety also has disadvantages, for example:

sweet fruits are loved by aphids and carnival, so the trees need to be treated;
the tree needs pollinators;
Duchess begins to bear fruit relatively late (5-6 years after planting).

Attention! Experienced gardeners note the fact that on dry soils the sugar content in fruits is noticeably higher - pears are sweeter and more aromatic. Therefore, it is better to plant a tree on a hill and not get carried away with watering.

Reviews from gardeners about the summer variety are mostly positive. This pear is loved, first of all, for its unpretentiousness: in almost any growing conditions, Duchess pleases with stable yields and tasty fruits.

Description of the winter variety

The characteristics of Winter Duchess are very different from the summer variety, but the two types also have common qualities. What both Duchess have in common is the appearance and taste of the fruit: winter pears are just as elongated and yellow, they are large and very tasty.

The most important difference between varieties is the ripening time. Winter Duchess ripens around mid to late October. It would be more accurate to say that this pear is harvested during the autumn leaf fall, but full ripening of the fruit occurs only after a few weeks.

In order for the fruits to fully ripen, they must be stored correctly, controlling the level of temperature and humidity, protecting the crop from sunlight. By the way, The fruits of Winter Duchess can be stored for a very long time - until March or April.

Unlike Summer, Winter Duchess is capricious regarding the composition of the soil and its nutritional value: the tree loves well-fertilized, loose and moisture-absorbing soils. The yield of the variety is high - at the level of one hundred kilograms per tree.

Winter pears also need pollinators; the following are suitable:

Bere Ardanpont;
Williams;
Olivier de Sar.

Attention! Pollinator trees should be planted in close proximity to each other. If, for example, a suitable pear grows in a neighboring area, the owner does not have to worry about pollinating his Duchess. Otherwise, you will have to plant two trees of different varieties at once.

The fruits of the Winter variety are distinguished by the presence of a subtle sourness in taste. On the one hand, such pears have a slight “blush”. Their mass is also several times greater - on average, about 600 grams.

The Winter variety has its advantages:

large fruits of excellent commercial quality;
long shelf life of the crop;
high productivity;
frost resistance of trees.

Advice! Pear fruits are very nutritious and healthy; they can become part of the diet and are suitable for baby food. Even dried fruits retain most of the vitamins and microelements, so it is recommended that everyone eat them without exception.

The disadvantages of Winter Duchess are the same as those of Summer - self-sterility and instability to scab.Don’t forget about the variety’s requirements for soil composition: the gardener will have to devote time to fertilizing and watering fruit trees.

Landing rules

Planting a Duchess pear begins with choosing a suitable location: preference should be given to an elevated area that is well lit and warmed by the sun. The soil must be nutritious and well-moistened; the hole for the seedling must be prepared in advance.

Since Duchess seedlings begin to bud already in mid-April, this pear needs to be planted very early - in early spring. The hole, about a meter deep and 70 cm in diameter, has been dug since the fall. At the same time, the top fertile layer is mixed with three buckets of humus and placed in the planting hole. You should also add a glass of superphosphate and a liter of wood ash there. All fertilizers are mixed. The soil must settle well so that the root collar of the seedling does not subsequently end up underground (this significantly slows down the development of the pear tree).

A Duchess pear seedling is placed in the center of the hole and its roots are straightened. Now the tree is carefully sprinkled with earth and watered.

Advice! You need to drive a wooden peg near the seedling. A young Duchess is tied to it so that it does not tilt from the wind (shown in the photo).

How to care for a tree

Like all trees in the garden, the Duchess pear needs the attention of the owner. To get a good harvest of tasty fruits, you need to provide the tree with the following care:

Pear trees are a must water on the eve of flowering. Please note that this period does not coincide for the Summer and Winter options. A few weeks after the first watering, when the fruits begin to set, the tree is watered again.The third time the Duchess pear must be watered after harvesting, that is, in the fall. If the summer in the region is dry and hot, the amount of watering needs to be increased. Calculating the required amount of water is simple: for each year of life, the pear “receives” two buckets of water.
Organic mulch retains soil moisture around the pear, prevents roots from becoming exposed and drying out, additionally nourishes the tree, and protects from frost.
Pear trees are recommended prune in spring. Until the age of five, seedlings undergo formative pruning, trying to give the crown the desired appearance. In older pears, dry or diseased shoots are simply cut out (sanitary pruning); if necessary, rejuvenating pruning is performed.
In spring, Duchess pears need handle a preparation containing copper (copper or iron sulfate, Bordeaux mixture). To save a tree from scab, it is sprayed with a urea solution. In the fall, it is advisable to treat Duchess with an antifungal agent.
There is no need to cover trees for the winter – the Duchess variety tolerates winters in central Russia well. To protect the bark of young seedlings from rodents, you can wrap it with burlap or non-woven material in the fall.
Every year tree feed mineral complex fertilizers. Every three years, it is necessary to add organic matter (cow manure or bird droppings), scattering it around the pear.

Growing a Duchess pear is not at all difficult - planting and caring for this fruit tree are completely ordinary.

Review

Irina Viktorovna, Kostroma

We planted the Williams pear (or Duchess, as it is commonly called in Russia) about 15 years ago. Its pollinator is Forest Beauty, which is already about thirty years old.I can say that Duchess fruits are indeed very tasty - this is one of my favorite varieties. By the way, we have the Winter version of the variety, and we are quite happy with it. In the central part of the country where we live, the harvest needs to be done in mid-October, or even earlier. Often the fruits do not have time to ripen by this time, but this is not a problem - the pears in storage become as ruddy and sweet as if they had ripened under the sun on a tree. The harvest is stored until next spring, so we enjoy nutritious and healthy fruits all winter.

Conclusion

Duchess pear is an excellent option for a simple summer resident, owner of a country plot or owner of a large farm. This variety is universal, as is the purpose of the fruit: pears are very tasty fresh, they can be dried or dried, added to preserves and jams, and used as a filling for aromatic pies.

Growing Duchess in your own garden is not difficult: the rules of agricultural technology for this variety are very simple.