Pear Schweizerhose: Taste And Care of the Pear Variety
The pear variety ‘Schweizerhose’ is often referred to as a fan variety. We’ll tell you the reason for this and what you can do with this special pear.
The stripes on the shell of the ‘Schweizerhose’ are clearly visible [Photo: MarinaNov / Shutterstock.com]
The first thing you notice about the pear ‘Schweizerhose’ is its striped skin. Because of its appearance, it is especially popular as a decorative pear. You will not find this variety in crop cultivation or in the supermarket display. Because of its robustness and high ornamental value, the variety is suitable as an eye-catcher in the home garden.
Pear ‘Schweizerhose’: profile
Table of Contents
| Synonyms | Early melon pear, cucumber pear, Swiss bergamot |
| fruit | Medium-sized; yellow, green and red stripes |
| taste | Moderately good, juicy and sweet |
| Yield | Medium high, fluctuating |
| Harvest time | From September |
| Ripe for enjoyment | End of October to November |
| Shelf life | Until the end of December |
| growth | Strong at first, later medium strong |
| climate | Widely cultivable, warm locations improve fruit quality |
| Diseases and pests | Not known |
Schweizerhose: history and origin
The ‘Swiss trousers’ were mentioned several times in Switzerland as early as 1800 and it is believed that their origins even go back to the 17th century. Various assumptions suggest that this variety is already around 400 years old and that it is a mutation of the ‘Long Autumn Pear’ from France. Mutation can also lead to the appearance of different stripes with other pear varieties, but these often disappear again due to reverse mutation – but not with the ‘Schweizerhose’. Their special name ‘Swiss Pants’ comes from the striped pants of the Swiss Guard in the Vatican. The ‘Schweizerhose’ variety, which has become rare, has been propagated from a few trees again in the last decade through government funds. This means that it is now increasingly available and in 2011 it was even chosen as pear variety of the year in Switzerland.
This uniform is said to have been the inspiration for the name of the ‘Schweizerhose’ [Photo: Mirko Kuzmanovic / Shutterstock.com]
Appearance, taste and properties of the pear ‘Schweizerhose’
The most striking thing about the ‘Schweizerhose’ pear is certainly its fruit. These are small to medium in size and bulbous. Their actually light green shell is provided with yellow-green or red vertical stripes. These stripes run from the stem to the calyx. In addition, fine peel points are visible. The pulp is very fine-celled and juicy. The taste of ‘Schweizerhosen’ is rated by gourmets rather only as sufficiently good – with this fruit, the look is more in the foreground than the taste. Due to the eye-catching stripes and the peel points, the ‘Schweizerhose’ pear likes to end up as a decoration in the house and is not consumed directly as a table pear. The ornamental value is in the foreground with this variety.
Tip: Not only the fruit, but also the young wood of the ‘Schweizerhose’ is striped lengthways.
Schweizerhose pear: cultivation and care
The growth of the tree of the ‘Schweizerhose’ is strong at the beginning, later only moderately strong. This forms a rather medium-sized and moderately branched crown with thin shoots. A regular cut in the youth is necessary for the crown build-up. With older trees, a stronger tapering cut of the crown may be necessary.
The pear ‘Schweizerhose’ is undemanding and resilient in terms of its location. It can be grown up to medium altitudes, but needs a sheltered location here. However, if the ‘Schweizerhose’ is grown in milder or warm locations, this has a positive effect on the taste of the fruit. This can then also be sweeter and more aromatic than in cooler locations. This variety also has no special soil requirements and can therefore be grown on normal as well as loamy or sandy soils.
Some fruits are already growing on the tree of the ‘Schweizerhose’ [Photo: MarinaNov / Shutterstock.com]
The most common forms of upbringing for the pear ‘Swiss pants’ are the half-trunk and the high-trunk. For the garden it is also suitable in a trellis or as a bush tree. The cultivation of the ‘Schweizerhose’ is also possible in smaller gardens through the refinement on rather poorly growing roots such as ‘Pyrodwarf®’. It is also feasible to use quince as a base, for example the slow-growing quince C.
The white flowers of the ‘Schweizerhose’ pear can then be seen between April and May. The ‘Williams Christ’, ‘Conference’ and ‘Clapps Liebling’ are possible pollinators. The yields of the ‘Schweizerhose’ are medium-high and fluctuate annually.
The pear ‘Schweizerhose’ is usually not affected by pests or diseases, as the variety is considered to be very robust or at least not known to be susceptible.
Harvesting and using the Swiss trousers
The pear ‘Schweizerhose’ is an autumn pear and ripens between September and October. The fruits are stuck until shortly before harvest, but then fall and should therefore be harvested in good time. After the harvest, the pears can be kept for several weeks – but the pear tastes best straight from the tree. If you don’t want to eat the ‘Schweizerhose’ pear directly, you can also process it into juice or use it as a nice decoration.
You can find out from us how to plant your pear tree in the garden and what to watch out for.
