Does anyone else have an ornamental pear that blooms, looks gorgeous and then the leaves come out and some are dead and branches are dead.......I wonder if it is some sort of fungus or something. This happens every yr. After the leaves come out, I get my long pole clippers and prune up the branches and cut the dead leaves off and it looks great........UNTIL next yr. when it starts all over again....
Any suggestions on a spray or something? Thanks..Linda from So. Calif.
Do the dead branches turn black and curl over like a sheperd's hook? If so, you probably have fireblight, which usually isnt a serious problems on the Callery pears, but can look ugly. Keep in mind it is a bacteria and not a fungus, so you are very limited in preventative measures. Fungicides containing copper are mildly effective at preventing it, but your best bet is agricultural streptomycin, sold as agri-mycin. It may be hard to find, but I have seen it at retail nurseries. You might have a different problem, but if you see black stems as described then you can pretty much bet fireblight, especially if the variety of pear you have is "aristocrat" or "redspire", which are extremely succeptible to the bacteria. Hope this helps!
I would Google fire-blight and compare photos. This is what it sounds like to me.
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