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

usatoday.com

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

#61

Post by pvaldes »

Terr_ wrote: post #22
joe_guy wrote: post #3

> it's contributing to the spread of related invasive trees that are taking over some urban green spaces and pastureland and encroaching on forests. I'll save you from the auto playing view port locker video.

A few more key points: * At first the species being planted everywhere was considered sterile, but somehow cross-pollination with related varieties can make them produce viable fruit, then animals spread the seeds. * The fruit is not edible to humans. * Some varieties have nasty thorns on them, able to pop vehicle tires, and over time grow together into thickets.

> The fruit is not edible to humans.

This is a feature, not a bug

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

#62

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

The company that I worked for, had a row of these across the primo parking spaces.

During the fall months, these parking spaces were always available.

I found out why.

If you park under one of these things in November, you come out in the evening, and it looks like every incontinent buzzard on Earth sat over your car.

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

#63

Post by bcatanzaro »

bungeonsBaggins wrote: post #53
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…

I don't mean to blow your mind, but humans are a part of nature. One advantage we have over other species is that we can spot patterns and work collectively to fix undesirable situations or circumstances. And if our fix causes further problems, we can fix those too! We're flawed creatures so it's not ideal, but it sure beats being at the mercy of the forces nature uses to correct things on its own, like diseases and…

Yes! Is a beaver dam artificial or natural? I believe everything humans do is part of nature.

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

#64

Post by bagels »

bitbckt wrote: post #54
bagels wrote: post #42

They need a better name that conveys their vile nature. I love pears. Why are people so upset about a pear tree I initially thought?

“Cum tree” doesn’t do it for you?

The title of the article is "Bradford pear trees..." which seems to be the accepted name.

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

#65

Post by beezle »

cafard wrote: post #12
beezle wrote: post #8

Was on HOA board where we had a road with quite a few of these trees. They were a fortune to prune because of the numerous small branches at higher reaches. As a board, we actually hoped they would come down in storms so we could replace with something more appropriate without the take down cost (and resident complaints). Another unqiue thing is during the summer it was not uncommon for a branch to suddenly explode -…

Where was this? In Maryland they would break, a lot, but I never heard of them exploding. I don't think the people in our development loved them. Certainly I had seen a few too many across somebody's lawn or walk.

Southern CT near the sound. Yes it would happen with some of the wide, low branches. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't like popcorn, maybe once every other year.

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

#66

Post by beezle »

echelon wrote: post #35
beezle wrote: post #8

Was on HOA board where we had a road with quite a few of these trees. They were a fortune to prune because of the numerous small branches at higher reaches. As a board, we actually hoped they would come down in storms so we could replace with something more appropriate without the take down cost (and resident complaints). Another unqiue thing is during the summer it was not uncommon for a branch to suddenly explode -…

Bradford pears were all the rage in the 1990s to 2000s. At one point HOAs thought these were the best tree . Local gardens and nurseries would sell lots of them to landscapers and homeowners. To this day, they're all over my home state of Georgia. And they're still selected for new landscaping. They did have a few pros: - Look great in the spring - Huge, lush, thick canopy in the summer - Fast growing But there are w…

From earlier response, the HOA I mentioned was along Long Island Sound so much more northerly. Our trees were a good 30+ years old. They were somewhat sheltered from high winds, especially when younger, by the nature of the buildings (two story row houses). It wasn't until the canopy reached a fair bit over the rooflines that they really started coming down in thunderstorms. That no parked cars were crushed was pretty much a miracle.

And spot on with the no grass underneath...and the homeowner complaints about dirt in front of their units ("if you pay to take it down and replace, we'll let you!")

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

#67

Post by datavirtue »

echelon wrote: post #35
beezle wrote: post #8

Was on HOA board where we had a road with quite a few of these trees. They were a fortune to prune because of the numerous small branches at higher reaches. As a board, we actually hoped they would come down in storms so we could replace with something more appropriate without the take down cost (and resident complaints). Another unqiue thing is during the summer it was not uncommon for a branch to suddenly explode -…

Bradford pears were all the rage in the 1990s to 2000s. At one point HOAs thought these were the best tree . Local gardens and nurseries would sell lots of them to landscapers and homeowners. To this day, they're all over my home state of Georgia. And they're still selected for new landscaping. They did have a few pros: - Look great in the spring - Huge, lush, thick canopy in the summer - Fast growing But there are w…

I have some type of pear tree in my front yard that look identical but they don't have any of these drawbacks.

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

#68

Post by datavirtue »

hammock wrote: post #31

Important note: There are now hybrid species that don't have the same downsides as the original true Bradford pear. Most of what are planted now are these hybrids.

I think those are what I have in my yard as I was not seeing any issues with them. No weird smell, shoots, or lifespan problems.

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

#69

Post by QuercusMax »

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 believe I learned it in this video from "The History Guy": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZAk1a0dqiM

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

#70

Post by bombcar »

olliej wrote: post #50
xp84 wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow, that's pretty wild that those cons didn't dissuade people from propagating them deliberately!

IIRC they were introduced aggressively as being a non-propagating, non fruiting tree or something, both of which turned out to be false, but by the time people realized this it was far too late :-/ Reminds me of SF planting Pōhutakawas everywhere - an NZ native tree that requires little water, don't fall over, don't fruit, etc. Except as any NZer could tell you, the reason they don't fall over is that they're evolved…

Eucalyptus in southern California; railroads thought they'd be great for building ties out of, they're not, and they're extremely flammable and explode.
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