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Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them

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Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them

#141

Post by t-3 »

oasisbob wrote: post #73
skeledrew wrote: post #51

Ah, typical. Nature taking its course and, once again, humans decide they know what's better and is going in to "correct" things. Then a few years in there's the cry about the disruption that was caused, and yet even more attempts at rectification. A never-ending cycle, because we can't learn to be hands off. Well I guess the cycle will eventually end given things are always somewhat worse with every swing of the cor…

The Bradford pear is a cultivar of an imported species from Asia. Nothing about this tree growing in North America is "nature taking its course". Humans decided to cultivate it here, and we can choose to stop. Cycles of correction, sure, but attempting to fix problems due to introduced species seems like a worthwhile effort.

Living things have been spreading to new areas and driving others to extinction and being driven extinct for the whole history of life. It's an extremely natural thing.

Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them

#142

Post by LorenDB »

saghm wrote: post #133
TeMPOraL wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never been very fond of nature to begin with[0], but I never imagined becoming disgusted by trees . That's until seeing some four different tree species mentioned in this thread, whose common characteristic seems to be the aura of shite and decay that takes years or decades to break through people's desperate need to pretend that since it is nature and handles well, it must be good. -- [0] - Specifically at huma…

> I've never been very fond of nature to begin with > [0] - Specifically at human/humane, live in and breathe in and admire it scale. I'm very fond of nature at population scale, and at molecular scale, both of which present interesting puzzles and applications. I can relate to this a lot. I feel the same way about nature as I do about a tiger or a volcano; I think they're cool and I respect them, but I don't care to…

At risk of being pedantic, tigers and volcanoes are nature.

Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them

#143

Post by pvaldes »

t-3 wrote: post #140
pvaldes wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A few observations: Japanese Cherries can be much more packed with flowers than this pear (It depends on the cultivar). Both Cherries and Dogwoods are royalty on gardens, but both deploy to much wider structures that can be low branched and tend to hang searching the floor, so this Pyrus is still pretty much unbeatable for narrow streets. Palms have their own problems, like thorns, but are "designed" for streets with…

There are some small ornamental apples that have been in my yard for decades that look very similar dogwood. No idea about the cultivar or anything (previous owner planted them AFAIK), but they are beautiful with reddish-pink leaves and white blossoms.

Some kind of Malus floribunda probably, but check also the plum Prunus cerasifera pisardii for comparison, and the serviceberry.

Cydonia oblonga has bigger flowers and in some way can remind dogwoods or even some magnolias when in blossom.

Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them

#144

Post by pvaldes »

t-3 wrote: post #139
Turing_Machine wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately Bradford pears are toxic to humans (though not birds).

Everything I've found while googling about this says that they are not toxic, they just don't taste very good and are very hard.

As toxic like apples probably. In a small fruit that is easy to ingest whole nobody would take care of removing the seeds. Apple seeds have cyanide so if you eat a lot is unpleasant

Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them

#145

Post by pvaldes »

datadrivenangel wrote: post #115
TeMPOraL wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never been very fond of nature to begin with[0], but I never imagined becoming disgusted by trees . That's until seeing some four different tree species mentioned in this thread, whose common characteristic seems to be the aura of shite and decay that takes years or decades to break through people's desperate need to pretend that since it is nature and handles well, it must be good. -- [0] - Specifically at huma…

There's a reason people tend to burn down rain forests. Well, two reasons: money from the cleared land, and rain forests tend to be unpleasant reserves of biodiversity with all sorts of nasty plants and flying insects that want to lay eggs under your skin.

Yep, the ambush of Cocoa tree is terrible.

Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them

#146

Post by pvaldes »

devmor wrote: post #87
Terr_ wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes me think of some bamboo eradication advice: You allow new growth to progress so that it consumes energy from the tricky root system, then cut it before the fresh sections can provide much in photosynthetic return-on-investment. After a few years of losing calories with each attempt, the plant runs out. That might only work for plants with "bursty" regrowth though.

I spent 3 years combating bamboo in a similar fashion and it certainly didn't work for me. I've never experienced a more frustratingly invasive plant in my life. Even wild blackberries are easier to deal with.

You may appreciate the fact that Bamboo sprouting is edible. I add rings of fresh bamboo to my pasta dishes and is a nice touch for a summer salad.

Just use only the new stems, the parts that can be sliced with a sharp kitchen knife using your hand and reasonable force, and discard everything else.

Best advice is not planting it unless you have a lot of space and something to do with it or build --strong-- concrete root barriers. Alcatraz jail level.

Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them

#147

Post by pvaldes »

hammock wrote: post #30
stass wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's wrong with Mimosas? They smell so nice in spring!

They are invasive, take hold and hard to eradicate/control, the flowers make a mess, and they are easily damaged in storms

Their invasive dark side is directly triggered by fire.

Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them

#149

Post by pvaldes »

gweinberg wrote: post #98

Why did anyone want pear trees whose fruit is inedible and whose flowers smell bad in the first place?

Because they have a lot of convenient features. Specially that they are supernarrow in their first decades. Other traits weren't so much desirable.

Inedible fruit is a desirable trait in urbanism. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Re: Bradford pear trees banned in few states – More are looking to eradicate them

#150

Post by pvaldes »

euroderf wrote: post #32
QuercusMax wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Europe they decided to get rid of the white pines (which are not native) in favor of the blackcurrants.

Interesting! Citation?

I was the French if I'm not wrong.
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