Bradford Pear trees

[Miss Mary]

My entire street (cul-de-sac with 27 homes) is landscaped with Bradford Pear trees. We have two in our yard, they're about 12 years old now. Huge! Now we're hearing in the Cincinnati area that Bradford Pear trees are not indigenous to our region and should never have been sold in this area. We all bought them from a reputable nursery! Anyway, one by one, several neighbors have lost their trees. They've either split during severe storms or just fallen over. Another neighbor had tree trimmers come in and thin out her trees, hoping to prevent them from falling over.

My questions:

1. Is it a good idea to thin them out?

2. Is there anything I can do to strengthen them, hopefully preventing damage from a storm?

I already fertilize and water them in dry spells. I've always done this, that's why they're so large (the largest of all on the street, many families are envious of their size! Now I'm thinking maybe I don't want them this large, LOL)

Thanks!

[craigGP]

you might want to plant some other trees near them so you have a head start when the bradfords do fall down. not a whole lot you can do about it. the tree naturally is weak and falls apart when large. brittle wood plus poor branching habit means make sure that you have gas for the chainsaw.

[Miss Mary]

craigGP - thanks, sort of knew I'd get an answer like this. We all planted these trees 3 feet from the curb. Grass around them. That was a good idea about other trees, but since they're planted this way, it wouldn't look the same. I used to like the effect they give - as I'd pruned them. And I didn't! Almost perfect round shape. So I just assumed the branching was good.

Each storm we get, I check on these trees.

[Stephanie]

They are beautiful trees Miss mary!

The first house that Marty & I lived in had a HUGE one right next to our driveway. To me, it was the highlight of the house and the block. About 2 years before we moved, I noticed that the leaveswere getting brown in the summer and I sprayed the tree for fungus which seemed to help. The next year, Marty & I went to a local diner nearby for a late dinner. A thunderstorm was brewing and we watched it blow through as we ate. When we arrived out our house, we realized that we couldn't park in our driveway - a third of the tree was ripped off and landed in the driveway. It just missed my car and it would've landed on Marty's if we didn't go to dinner. It was one of the saddest sights and days I could remember. The next day we had it taken down. The fungus must've weakened the one area where that limb came down because there was no lightening damage. We ended up buying a hybrid pear tree which will take another 15 years to get to that same size. We don't live at that house anymore, but I do pass by it daily on the way to work. Alot of developments and industrial parks have them in their landscape and sure enough every year I see a couple that have split after a storm. I've heard people actually bracing the trees with wood planks underneath each of the branches for support. The problem with the trees is that they don't have a center stump for support and as those main branches get bigger and heavier, it's only a matter of time when they fail. It's ashame!

[johnsam]

Ms. Mary,

Bradford Pears, Mimosa, etc. are trees that have soft wood and will split if they get to heavy to the center of gravity. You could use expandable wrap like you get with an ace bandage - to wrap the main trunk, which gives it needed support. Also selective trimming helps bunches. Here in NC we have a lot of these that just glowin' the spring. And some of these are giants. But they have been well cared for by the townships.

It is a beautiful spring tree. I have one of medium-small size - 16 ft. Good luck!

Sam

[Stephanie]

I'll keep that in mind the next time I have one of those trees Sam! They are beautiful in the spring, though the flowers don't really smell that wonderful. In the fall, the leaves are a pretty burgundy/magenta color.

[Miss Mary]

Well, I just fertilized my Bradford Pear trees and raked the mulch away from the bark, as I always do. And raked all the mulch. Watered them well too. Now I need to go in the interior of them and trim good. That's what my neighbor had done professionally. Can't afford that right now but at least I could trim about 10 feet up. And some lower branches off that annoy me anyway when cutting the grass.

PS - one neighbor's tree has been hit twice now from storms. First time, only 1/8 of it was ripped off. And in time branches and leaves filled in that bare spot. Last time they lost at least 1/3 more. Now where that main 6 inch wide branch came out is a bare, gouged out spot. It looks awful! I'd say it looks like 1/2 of this tree is gone now. They had someone come in and cut up the last downed limbs, etc. I was expecting them to cut the whole tree down but it's still standing. Sure look odd! This family was going on vacation the very next day, might be why they just said clean up this damage and leave the tree be.

[breeze]

Well, Miss Mary, I've just spent the last hour, after coming in
from work, cleaning up half of a forty-foot Bradford that fell,
in my front yard, during a severe storm that we had, this
afternoon! I pulled up in the drive, and, my brother
was cutting it up with the chainsaw, and, my sis-in-law was
dragging large limbs off. I changed clothes and joined them,
and, we had it cleaned up in an hour. That bare spot sure
looks ugly! They have one in their yard that did the same,
last year, but, it stated filling in, this year. Hopefully, this one
will do the same.

[Miss Mary]

Annette - that's too bad! So sorry this happened to your brother's tree. Hope I didn't jinx you! I keep putting off trimming my trees, from the bottom. Really need to do that! Before the next storm.

[pvroses]

Miss Mary, I just watched a show the other day and they were disscussing Bradford pears ! Aparently the trick to keeping them from falling and/or spliting off large branches is to trim ALL horizontal branches off the tree ! The tree they showed didn't look like the usual Bradford pear,not as much foliage,but the structure of the tree showed up very nicely ! The vertical branches withstand much more stress than the hortizontal ones. They have been overused here too. With our ice storms and heavey snows they don't last very long at all. Good luck ! ~K

PS; Breeze~ I'm so sorry you lost your tree ! That must of left a huge hole in your front yard ! I dread the day any of our big trees come down.

[Miss Mary]

pvroses - thanks so much for that info! I'm looking out my window right now and I see many branches that are horrizontal. I don't think I can trim all of these branches myself! And can't quite afford that big bill to have them professinally done. Guess we'll take our chances.

As if I've posted, I used to be the envy of the street. In the beginning, all the trees weren't doing so well. So the one family who coordinated the sale (over 50 for the entire street) called the nursery. I followed the nursery's advice (weekly deep watering, fertilizing, raking mulch away from bark, etc.) and mine were/are the fullest on the street. And now probably the most vulnerable!!!! A few have hardly grown and it's been over 10 years now. I wanted to sneak down to those yards and baby those trees too - but of course didn't. LOL You see we planted every single tree/bush/shrub and seeded our entire lawn with fescue. We were on a very tight budget when we built our house (budget still tight!) so we wanted to save money by doing it ourselves. And then I discovered when you plant things yourself, you follow instructions - cutting into the root ball in three places, using B-1, etc. I've watched professional landscapers do a yard and I swear no one waters those plantings - for days on end. I just have to pry my eyes away, it bothers me too much. But I'm getting off track. When I heard what we could do to encourage our Bradfords to grow well, I said sure I'll do that. And now they're huge!!!!

[breeze]

Thanks for the "condolescences", Miss Mary and pvroses....
I, too, look out at that tree and see many horizontal branches. One
particular horizontal branch that broke off will never slap me in the
head when I am mowing under it, again, though! We had another
round of strong storms, again, this morning...I was at work, thinking,
"well, there goes the REST of that tree"!

[Stephanie]

I'm sorry to hear about your tree too Breeze! It is like losing one of your family isn't it? Especially when they are that size - they're a diamond in the rough!

Pv - probalby the horizontal branches help to pull the vertical branches away from the center of the trunk, thus weakening them. I'll have to remember that too the next time I happen to own one of those.

[breeze]

Thanks, Steph - yes, it changes the whole
landscape of the front lawn - you can suddenly
look out and see past where branches used to be.
I try to keep the lawn clean and tidy,
and, I just KNOW that folks are driving by,
saying, "Ewww...look at that old busted up tree!"

[Lindaloo]

Miss Mary, I just watched a show the other day and they were disscussing Bradford pears ! Aparently the trick to keeping them from falling and/or spliting off large branches is to trim ALL horizontal branches off the tree ! The tree they showed didn't look like the usual Bradford pear,not as much foliage,but the structure of the tree showed up very nicely ! The vertical branches withstand much more stress than the hortizontal ones. They have been overused here too. With our ice storms and heavey snows they don't last very long at all. Good luck ! ~K

PS; Breeze~ I'm so sorry you lost your tree ! That must of left a huge hole in your front yard ! I dread the day any of our big trees come down.

That is exactly what I do to mine. They have a much better shape to them when they are trimmed that way.