Pear Tree Under Attack

I've bought the pear tree 3 years ago, the first year it was in a large container and it was thriving. I then planted it in the ground during the winter of 2022/23. But last summer I nearly lost it, what with it being transplanted and the hot weather, it took a lot of coaxing to keep it's leaves.

It's just about come into leaf, and this is what's happening. I could spray the whole lot with the hose pipe but I'm not too sure. Just wondering what the lovely experts in GC would do. The variety is William pear and it's on dwarf stock.

TYIA.

 

Almost certainly an aphid.
Spraying with your hose should shift them.

An alternative would be a Pyrethrum spray (which is extracted from chrysanthemums).
It is not a systemic insecticide so the fruit will not be affected.
It is a contact insecticide that only lasts a few days at most.

 

Thanks @Pete8 will bear in mind the Pyrethrum spray. Had a good look around and I think it's the only tree that's so infested. Didn't realise but the spray head on the hose has a function that squirts downwards which is handy, saves me spraying the neighbours windows , I was panicking a bit about that.

 

I agree … squirt them off with a hose … hopefully there are some nesting bluetits in the area that’ll deal with any recurrence.

 

Not as much as they were.

 

Ah well there goes another problem. There's a nice sycamore tree at the back of our house belonging to a neighbour, it's about 4 or 5m away and it's up against the fence. It's no problem, I like it even though half of it overhangs, it doesn't block much sun. They've put a nest box on the tree, trouble is it's only about 2 ft above the fence and I don't think it's very cat proof. There are a couple of blue tits flitting around the branches which is delightful, but I'm hoping they don't take up residence. The locals felines use the fence as an overpass to get through to garden to garden.

The stricken young pear tree is in the centre/right of the pic, you can see the nest box. I've also got seeds and suet balls hanging on the arch for the birds, but they hardly ever come, the feeders have been untouched for a couple of weeks now. We get the odd blackbird, and a couple of fat pigeons that regularly visit. I'm waiting for the starlings to appear about now, they usually bring their fledgelings into the garden which is quite entertaining, and then they're off again till next spring. It's interesting that the starlings encourage other birds to come. I'm hoping when the garden gets more established birds will visit.