Winter 2026Order now for delivery from week commencing 16th March onwards.
01759 392007

Merton Pride pear trees

£40.50
Merton Pride pears
Check pollinators >
Merton Pride is listed in the RHS Plants for Pollinators
  • Picking season: Mid
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile
  • Flowering group: 4

One of the best English pears, with a notably juicy buttery flesh.

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Merton Pride pear trees for sale

Choose a size - bare-root

  • BR11-year bare-root tree,Pyrodwarf rootstock£40.50
    Large tree (3m-5m after 10 years)
  • BR21-year bare-root tree,Pyrus c. Kirchensaller rootstock£40.50
    Very large tree (4m-7m after 10 years)
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Ask our fruit tree experts on 01759 392007 or fill in our contact form.

Tree specification

Photos of trees as supplied | Tree sizes and forms

Next deliveries

Delivery from week commencing 16th March 2026 onwards.

Delivery charges

Delivery for a single tree starts at £9.95, it is calculated based on your postcode.

All about Merton Pride pear trees

Pedigree is often an indicator of quality and Merton Pride has an excellent one - it is related to the well-known English Williams pear, crossed with a Belgian variety of good repute called Glou Morceau. The result is undoubtedly one of the best quality English pears available, notable for its juicy buttery flesh.

Be sure to pick the fruits whilst they are still fairly hard, and then ripen indoors.

Growing and Training

Merton Pride is a triploid variety - which is fairly unusual amongst pears. As with triploid apples, this is reflected in its fairly vigorous growth and above average disease resistance, but it is also unable to pollinate other pears. It needs another pear tree nearby for pollination, Conference is a good choice for this purpose.

Although developed in England and with a part-English ancestry, Merton Pride has both the flavour and growing requirements of the top French pears. It is best grown in the south and east of England, in a warm sunny spot and on good soil - if you can provide these conditions then you should be rewarded with high quality pears.

Merton Pride is quite difficult to propagate in the nursery and is usually only available on the more vigorous rootstocks.

Recommended pollinators for Merton Pride pear trees

Merton Pride is not self-fertile and is also a poor pollinator of other varieties. Ideally you need two other different but compatible varieties planted nearby in order to produce fruit, or one compatible self-fertile variety. The following varieties are good pollinators for Merton Pride. If you are not sure about pollination requirements just ask us.

  • Pollinator Conference
    Conference
    Conference is a popular and reliable English pear, well-suited to the UK climate.
  • Pollinator Concorde
    Concorde
    A marriage of Conference and Comice - Concorde is easy to grow, heavy crops, excellent flavour.
  • Pollinator Fondante d'Automne
    Fondante d'Automne
    An old fashioned French pear with a notably sweet flavour.
  • Pollinator Gorham
    Gorham
    A reliable early 20th century American pear, with a sweet creamy flesh.
  • Pollinator Beurre Superfin
    Beurre Superfin
    A traditional French 19th century pear, widely considered one of the best for flavour.
  • Pollinator Clapps Favourite
    Clapps Favourite
    An attractive red-flushed early-season pear from the USA.
  • More pollinators >

History

Developed in the 1940s at the famous John Innes Institute at Merton, Surrey, England. Merton Pride is a cross between Williams and Glou Morceau.


Merton Pride characteristics

Growing

  • Gardening skillAverage
  • Self-fertilityNot self-fertile
  • Flowering group4
  • Pollinating othersPoor
  • Fruit bearingSpur-bearer
  • Climate suitabilityTemperate climatesWarm climates

Using

  • Picking seasonMid
  • CroppingGood
  • Keeping (of fruit)1 week
  • Food usesEating fresh

Problems

  • Disease resistanceGood

Identification

  • Country of originUnited Kingdom
  • Period of origin1900 - 1949
  • Blossom colourWhite

British-grown trees Trees grown in the UK.

Unlike many garden centres and online retailers, the vast majority of our fruit trees are grown in the UK. Find out more.

All our trees are certified under the Plant Healthy scheme, supervised by the Plant Health Alliance. Other stakeholders include Defra and the RHS. Find out more.

Guaranteed fruit trees

When you buy your fruit tree from Orange Pippin Fruit Trees we guarantee it for the first season in your garden while it gets established. If it doesn't grow successfully, we'll either replace it the following season or offer a refund, subject to some conditions. Find out more.

More about pear trees

Dessert pears are amongst the most desirable of all orchard fruits, with their characteristic sweet flavours. Most of the varieties we know today arose in the first half of the 19th century, when there was an explosion of interest among amateur and professional growers in raising new varieties, particularly in Belgium, France, and England. The aim was to achieve a buttery soft flesh and exquisite rich flavour.

Unlike apples, dessert pears can't usually be eaten straight from the tree, and should not be left to ripen on the tree. Instead aim to pick them just before they are ripe, and then place them in a fruit bowl for a few days.


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