Did you realize how harmful Bradford pear trees are?

[raccoon]

And I used to think they were pretty.

Blooming Bradford Pears a bane on Piedmont (SC) landscape

Published: Wednesday, March 9, 2011 - 2:00 am
By Durant Ashmore

There are lots of reasons to hate Bradford Pears. The aroma of the flowers rivals that of week-old garbage. The tree has the weakest branch structure in nature, and as soon as the tree matures, it is doomed to kill itself in a ritual suicide...

With all of the reasons to hate Bradford pear, these transgressions pale in comparison to the evil curse the progeny of Bradford pear have cast upon our landscape. When you go about your daily activities today, take note of the multitude of white blooming trees along fields and byways….

As you begin to notice the preponderance of these white blooming trees, you will quickly realize we are experiencing a foreign invasion of epic proportions. This ecological disaster may be every bit as serious as, and quite possible worse than, the kudzu invasion…. (I didn’t think that was possible.)

http://www.tribunetimes.com/article/20110309/TRIBUNETIMES/303090008/1151

[NeedleCast]

1. Worse Than Coffee?

[HopeHoops]

2. Yeah, ours did the suicide thing, but one branch grew out of the trunk and is quite strong.

We're going to let it grow back into a tree and wait for it to commit suicide again. It is a pretty tree.

[MadHound]

3. Luckily Bradfords are pretty rare around here,

And I do keep an eye out for them, since I grow heirloom sugar pears.

But they are one of the worst of the invasive tree species.

[blondeatlast]

4. Before you brush this off so easily, Google "saguaro" and "buffelgrass"

I've lived in AZ for almost 40 years and I've seen the devastation buffelgrass has caused to the saguaros. :(

http://www.desertmuseum.org/invaders/invaders_buffelgrass.php

[raccoon]

7. I can't find ruffalo grass. But I'd hate to think of the saguaro being endangered....

it's a symbol of your state.

[blondeatlast]

19. My bad and I edited with a link. It's really sad to see them disappearing before my eyes. nt

[Buzz Clik]

5. I have witnessed the self demise of a Bradford pear.

It was enormous and at the side of a large building. A Kansas wind kicked in (probably 30 mph), and the tree leaped on the opportunity to split in half. It was an amazing site.

I'm not sure many would agree that the Bradford is quite as insidious as kudzu. Being a tree, you can take it out quickly and permanently.

[Mariana]

11. I had a big one disintegrate on a clear, still day

over the course of a few hours. It was wild, the neighbors even gathered to watch. First one huge limb fell, and while my husband and I were out clearing that away, we heard another one start to go (and got out from under the tree in time, lol). Over the next couple of hours four more large limbs just peeled off and crashed to the ground. I called a crew to come cut down the remains of the tree, grind the stump and remove the debris.

Don't be so sure about taking them out quickly and permanently, though. The roots didn't die for a long time. For several years we had baby Bradford pears popping up from the roots that remained in the ground. If we hadn't cut them all down, there would now be a dozen or more young Bradford pears where there had been one to start with.

[Donnachaidh]

6. the idiot landscapers around here plant them EVERYWHERE

And every time we have tornado warnings you can count the downed trees.

[Mariana]

8. I swear those flowers smell like cat urine.

There's a million of them in my neighborhood, planted by the builder I guess, and they're all in bloom right now. Nasty trees. Even with a high wind the whole area smells like neglected litter box.

[tridim]

15. I think they smell like rotten fish..

My gay neighbor thinks they smell like semen (yes, he said that).

Either way, they smell awful.

[Tsiyu]

9. I HATE Bradford Pear trees

They are a fine example of consumerism meets horticulture.

Since so many were planted 20 years ago and successively since, they ought to start keeling over soon.

I have a small one here the former owner planted. This may be the year i wack it.


Plant dwarf "real" fruit trees instead. A bit messier but not nearly as dangerous.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. They won't grow here.

I guess we're lucky.

[raccoon]

17. I don't think kudzu will either. So you're doubly lucky. nt

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

18. But we do have buckthorn.

Imagine kudzu with thorns. And you can't kill it with anything short of tactical nukes.

[Populist_Prole]

12. I hate the things too. Can't understand why they're so popular

A mere dirty look will make them fall ( usually on someone's car as they tend to line parking lots ) and the flowers smell like human sweat.

Plus the first bit of wind over 15 mph fleeces the tree bare of flowers and coats the ground with them.

Seems developers like them because they're cheap and grow fast, but to me they're just another sign of suburbia like billboards and styrofoam containers.

[Shagbark Hickory]

13. Now is the time of year you notice how widespread they are in natural areas.

.. Because they bloom so early and so profusely, you can spot them from a mile away and they have sprouted up in natural areas all over where I live.

The problem is there is no legislation to prevent them from being sold so nurseries continue to sell them and tree farms continue to grow them.

Profits first, then people, then the environment.

I guess that's a twist on the ol' suze orman catch phrase.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. Plus they are notorious for harboring fire blight which infects other trees.

they are all over the city and in full bloom right now.
None within an a couple of acres of where we are, fortunately.
I have never been close enough to experience the ...odor...of their blooms.

[yellowcanine]

16. Well they ARE pretty in the early Spring when they are blooming. They are also horrible trees

because they are quite invasive and break apart if you look at them sideways in a good stiff breeze.

[JoeyT]

20. K&R

Though I don't think it's anything like as bad as kudzu, it's still a problem.

For those that have never seen it, this is kudzu. That's a house in the middle of that picture and trees in the background, all covered with it.