Cost to prune a pear tree.

ali291, Jun 7, 10:45pm
I live in a Hillside suburb of Chch but access to the section is easy and fairly flat - my garden is rather wild and undeveloped but has a pear tree that provides a huge number of edible pears - I haven't pruned it in the nearly 2 years I have been here so when my neighbours were getting quotes to prune their trees I asked them to get the man to quote for my tree - it came back at $150 which I was just going to go with as it was easy and sometimes trade people are reluctant to come to the suburb or charge extra to do so - my mother thinks this is excessive - does any one know a ballpark figure for one tree about 3-4 metres in height (perhaps less actually). And thanks in advance

buddytom, Jun 7, 11:31pm
thats pretty reasonable I think , taing into account running costs of a business and disposing of the branches

skin1235, Jun 7, 11:38pm
google pruning a pear tree
do it yourself in an hour, put the wood in the woodshed, whats the worst that can happen, next yrs crop maybe reduced by perhaps a basket full of fruit, but the year after you'll be throwing the surplus away

carter19, Jun 8, 12:38am
I had 16 trees pruned last year for $100. It included copper spraying too.

farmerjohn, Jun 8, 8:13am
$150 for a single tree is ridiculous, Crazy talk, I agree with skin1235.
DIY it will give you a sence of pride, YOU CAN DO IT

ali291, Jun 9, 8:22am
Thanks every one - I am the type to give things a go but I don't actually have the equipment - I assume I would need a ladder and a saw? Also I hate heights!

mybooks, Jun 9, 11:32am
I emailed the head tutor of the closest polytech horticulture course and offered him a big bag of freshly picked fruit in exchange for him showing me how to prune my fruit trees. His reply? I'll be there 3pm on Wednesday - a great win-win for us both.

eburb, Jun 10, 6:49pm
It would be cheaper to chop it down and buy 50kg of pears in season. That's how I would look at it. Not that I would cut down a nice fruit tree, I just wouldn't pay so much to have it pruned. DIY.

skin1235, Jun 11, 8:19am
why would you need a ladder and a saw
there are pole pruners aplenty ( a saw blade on a long pole ) you stay at ground level,while you can pay megabucks to keep up with the jones perfectly capable ones can be had for around $25

ali291, Dec 18, 10:43am
Well I am new to this and I don't know what I would need - that is why I was asking!