The kinds of growth that shoot straight up from a branch below are
commonly called waterspouts.
They result when a tree is trying to put out growth very quickly. This
can occur if one overdoes
the spring pruning, or in the case in question, a major cut down
occurred. A tree like this with
a very large root structure cannot easily be shortened by pruning. It
is trying it's hardest to
balance the top growth, as I mentioned before. I think Brian has the
right idea to prune off
the waterspouts, and try and develop the outgrowing branches. By the
way, waterspouts are not
peculiar to pear trees, you get them on apple and stone fruit trees, as
well.

Sherwin D.

simy1 wrote:

(Brian) wrote in message . com...
I recently moved into a new house with what I believe is an apple tree. It
looks like the two major trunks were cut back at 7 foot a few years ago, but
since then a number of major branches have started from there and shot
straight up an additional 10 or more feet. I am reluctant to cut them off
because they are now a big part of the tree, but I certainly will not be
climbing that high to get the fruit!

I also don't want to get too radical in case I misidentified the tree...

Brian


While I mostly agree with Sherwin, in case you end up liking the
apples from the tree, there are tools to harvest tall trees. Basically
a very long pole with a mechanical hand at the top. Also, if they shot
straight up, this thing could be a pear tree.