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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

#81

Post by [deleted] »

bombcar wrote: post #70
olliej wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

[deleted]

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

#82

Post by pessimizer »

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…

> Nature taking its course

Lawns and backyards.

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

#83

Post by skeledrew »

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…

And look at the state of the world with all our interventions. We may be "a part of nature", but the things we do to it are definitely not natural. We're the only ones doing collectively irreparable harm, so as not to be at its mercy.

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

#84

Post by delichon » 

  The original Bradford pear tree was ideal for planting because it was thought to be sterile in that it could not reproduce. -- TFA

  John Hammond: There you are. There. They imprint on the first creature they come in contact with. Helps them to trust me. I've been present for the birth of every creature on this island.
  Ian Malcolm: Well, surely not the ones that have bred in the wild.
  Henry Wu: Actually, they can't breed in the wild. Population control is one of our security precautions. There is no unauthorized breeding in Jurassic Park.
  Ian Malcolm: Uh, and how do you know they can't breed?
  Henry Wu: Well that's because all the animals in Jurassic Park are female. We've engineered them that way.

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

#85

Post by Terr_ »

aidenn0 wrote: post #78
tomohawk wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought you were going to say something about how large branches will just pop off and crush anything beneath them at random times. This is due to how multiple branches will come from the trunk at the same point, and are weakly attached. EDIT: Having finally eradicated all of the ones from our land, the best method is to immediately pour herbicide onto the trunk after cutting it down. The herbicide will get sucked…

What herbicide do you use? I have a tree growing under my roofline that keeps growing back. I tried glyphosate last time, but it came back.

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.

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

#86

Post by quickthrowman »

davexunit wrote: post #24
riffic wrote: post #7

blackcurrants were banned too (by federal united states gov) for some sort of complicated reason

Blackcurrant bans feel too heavy-handed to me. Currants are a wonderful berry, very easy to grow, and one of the easiest woody plants to propagate.

There are plenty of other native berries in North America. White pines are rather majestic trees, particularly the old growth ones. [0]

I’m happy with white pines and raspberries/blueberries, Europe can keep their blackcurrants.

[0] https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/chippewa/recarea/?recid=2667...

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

#87

Post by devmor »

Terr_ wrote: post #85
aidenn0 wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What herbicide do you use? I have a tree growing under my roofline that keeps growing back. I tried glyphosate last time, but it came back.

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.

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

#88

Post by skeledrew »

hollywood_court wrote: post #59
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…

If we were 'hands off', the Bradford Pear would have never made it to North America in the first place.

We don't know that for sure though. All it takes is a single seed in an ideal condition. And that condition could've probably happened in a way that the pear wouldn't have the advantage that's caused some to name it "invasive".

But also, left alone, nature tends to rebalance on its own. Any species with a dominant advantage will eventually lose that advantage, given a few generations. Well, except for humans, who continually fight the natural rebalancing, and are only succeeding in increasingly destroying that which sustains life on this planet.

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

#89

Post by skeledrew »

pessimizer wrote: post #82
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…

> Nature taking its course Lawns and backyards.

Unnaturally created and maintained.
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