You can,.. hard to see where its attached, if you have a bad crutch then take it off.

I'd remove it, although codominant branches are less likely to split off on pears than other fruit species.

I'd also keep the tree from getting too tall and spread branches to encourage a more spreading tree and earlier fruiting. I also wouldn't make the tree fight that turf and would mulch a ring under the tree and keep the turf from under the tree until it reached maturity.

Harvestman, is turf really much of a concern with trees that have plenty of vigorous growth regardless? My thinking is probably completely wrong and backwards, but I've even wondered if sapping some of that vigor could reduce some of the lush growth that really invites fireblight.

I agree with everything Hman said. We have a picture of
what happens, when you don't train a tree to grow properly. That tree needs some severe pruning and branch spreading. I'd also permanently maintain the grass free zone.

CF, if the tree is growing well enough to suit ones needs, I agree that nothing needs to be done. I just don't usually get adequate vigor with young trees competing with turf like that in the picture, but I can't really see the annual growth from the photo.

I always think it is best to respond to what you see happening than to simply go by some recipe. Every site is different and a good gardener responds to conditions.

Commercial growers around here usually manage fruit trees by maintaining a wide herbicide strip under the rows of trees, including mature ones, because it greatly enhances productivity, but in a home orchard, needs may vary.

I sometimes establish trees with a mulch ring and let it revert to turf when trees come into production but I never let a young tree compete with turf.

Thanks for the reply, H'man. I think in hindsight I definitely made the beginner mistake of letting grass over-compete with my apples (planted mostly as fresh grafts in 2008 on M111 and still not hardly bearing) and pawpaws, but my Asian and Euro pears and peaches and chestnuts, for example, don't seem to have suffered at all from the same treatment. The tree in the photo above doesn't look to me like it's been growing as vigorously as my pears have, though. I imagine the degree to which these generalizations hold true depends a lot on complex issues of soil and rootstock and climate and other management habits (like watering) and grass species, etc.

That pear looks like it had good growth,.. no need keeping the turf off,..that's how I like it, the ease of cutting grass.

Sometimes there is not a single right answer. That limb probably should have been pruned long ago. If you cut it off now, you are taking off a substantial part of the tree. But if you leave it, the tree will be very misshapen.

If the tree is not growing very vigorously, you might consider waiting another year or two, because removing the limb could stall growth.

I agree that there is often not a single right answer, but with oversized branches my reluctance to make the cut has been a bane of the orchards I manage. The branches pull all the sap on their side of the tree and the later you make the cut the more unbalanced the result. The sooner the cut is made the sooner the tree can begin to grow new wood on that side of the tree in proper proportion to the trunk.

The overall loss in tree vigor from the loss of wood is actually fairly minor and shortly overcome. If you leave a bit of a stub at the point of cut the tree will likely send out a replacement branch if you want a branch at that spot. If you spread the new branch it will likely submit to moderate growth.