January is the start of fruit-tree time, a brief window of opportunity for gardeners to snatch up bare-root seedlings at bargain prices. But if low-grade soil is keeping you from jumping on the backyard-orchard bandwagon, consider the pear tree.
“Pears like soil so heavy, no other trees will survive in it,” says C. Todd Kennedy, a fruit historian and co-partner of the Arboreum Co., which specializes in heirloom cultivars. “They like everything except light or sandy soil.”
That’s good news for gardeners who’ve tried everything short of a jackhammer to loosen up the clay commonly found in the Bay Area.