Planting a new fruit tree

Looking for advice please. I have quite a bit of space in a border (recently removed two conical conifers) and wanting to maybe grow a fruit tree.
Thinking Williams Pear as our family name is Williams and have a bit of a dream of seeing the pear tree grow with our children.

Reading online about partially self-pollinating. This makes me feel uneasy as I don’t want to invest years into growing a tree for it never to produce fruit for us.
I do have a cherry plum in the garden but never seen any fruit on it (just nice blossom) and don’t want to have another baron tree

what advice do people have regarding the reliability of fruit production?

I live in the North east, about a mile from the sea so we do get quite cold and blustery weather. The space is on an easterly fence - which I assume means the tree will be facing west?
Thanks in advance .

 

You may need to thoroughly replenish nutrients with copious amounts of organic material (farm yard manure ) because conifers will likely have depleted the soil.
Suggest you look to see Conference and/or Concorde varieties of pear for they are semi self fertile but crop better if pollinated. I would consider espalier type trees to give more control of size and wind protection besides a fence. These varieties are relatively late flowering so may suit a cooler northern climate. Do you have room for one of each ?
See
Buy plants by post from R.V.Roger Ltd
who are in your region (perhaps)

 

Just a quick look suggests you would be better with a pollinator for it, unless there are suitable pollinators growing nearby.

 

Thanks for the advice!

@infradig Re:manure… dos it have to be the well rotted stuff you buy? I have friends who have horses so manure is no issue - but it’ll be fresh and someone once told me this is no good to go directly into beds.

I don’t think have space for 2 trees which I hope to grow large. But I could possibly put a potted one somewhere. Would that work?

 

Well rotted* is best because it will have lost the ammonia in fresh and has decomposed to the state that fungi can colonise it. Fresh spread on the surface now will allow it to lose this gaseous content and rain will wash it in to the soil. Perhaps you could buy some 6x to plant the tree(s) and then mulch the surface (where there should be no roots) with your friends donation.
Having a tree in a pot will limit its development; you do need to have a pear that flowers at the same time as the tree planted and to be adjacent; but bees can fly!
How much space is there ? Size is according to rootstock chosen ,for the trees will be grafted. Details such as the site I mentioned. They are a premium source but other, perhaps cheaper, trees are available.
*probably compostable/usable within 4-6 months if layered with other green matter.

 

Thanks! I'll just buy it, seems like a lot of work otherwise
I wouldn't want to squeeze two trees into the border I have as I want to use the space for other nice things in the border too. I'll have to do a bit of thinking. thanks again

 

Yes, hence my suggestion for espalier type treeform, to go in front of the fence but parallel to it,leaving the border for some planting, maybe strawberries ?

 

If you chose cordons or columnar trees you could maybe fit in more than one.
Do your homework about varieties, rootstocks etc for your location and for the size of tree that you want. Here's a good starting point Growing Pear Trees in the North - Chris Bowers & Sons

 

Use your search engine and input - how to use manure for fruit trees. This will help.