bradford pairs

[darkstar]

we have a lot of bradford pairs here in tennessee every good storm in summer many of them fall apart. personally i never reccomend planting them anyway .. what do you people think about topping bradford pairs ? ive seen many here topped and the tree came back well with a good shape . only answer if you have worked with bradford pairs ... i never reccomend topping any tree but sometimes i wonder if the bradford pair is the only candidate . ...also folks here in chattanooga simply dont take no for an answer on topping bradfords ... on the other hand i talked about 10 customers out of a complete hack top job in the last month on nice maples and huge oaks ... we just pruned them for wind and weight reduction ... darkstar

 

[alanarbor]

There are many flowering pear cultivars that are superior to "bradford".
Check your local nurseries.

The key is to select good trees at the nursery, and prune them as they mature to maintain a strong structure. If you just stick it in the ground, and wait 10-20 years you're going to have structure problems with almost any tree.

I figure with as poor of a structure as bradfords have, topping didn't make em any worse, except for looks. My personal recommendation is remove and replace with a better cultivar.

 

[VTMechEng]

Here we are in bradford pear hell. Everyone planted them a few years ago because it was sold as a "beautiful and fast going tree." I have toped a few of them and it really doesn't make their structure any worse, it don't think it is possible to. I don't feel bad doing it because they are junk trees I would rather take down anyway. My personal recommendation is always to take it down and plant something better. If it comes to it though I will do what the customer wants, be it thinning (the best alternative to removal), toping, or even a small cable to help keep it together.

 

[TREETX]

Yes, top them. If it bad for their health, is that a bad thing??

 

[darkstar]

haha thanx my thought exactly .... i have been reccomending jeffs acer red maples for replacing bradfords ... is this a good reccomendation ?

 

[NickfromWI]

C'mon VT, don't top the tree!

I hope you're kidding with that comment.

If you're gonna top it, top it down to ground level.

love
nick

 

[Gumneck]

Topem, Nah, Work Em

Some neighbors had a couple in their front yard and they knew I had some fruit tree acreage and a vineyard. So couple years after they planted them they asked if I would prune them. I said yeah, and did it for free. Anyway, I kept em up for the next four/five years with good results. Started out eliminating so many extra leaders and narrow crotches, thinning whorls, rubbing branches and reducing laterals etc. Her trees looked so much better than some other neighbors whom didn't prune their Brfd Pears nor did I. They're trees were typical and hers was well rounded and nice to look at. I think my point in adding my fitty cents here is that since you's guys are doing this for a living, you need to sell/market/convince/brainwash to your customers that pruning B pears is a yearly thing and that it must be done religiously(which means you'll be back for more of their cash) for good horticultural practices and weathering high winds etc. By the way the trees I pruned weathered Isabel the other guys had splits.
Sorry bout all that.

 

[VTMechEng]

I am not saying I like toping them, actualy I find it a pain in the a@@, and I do try my hardest to push (yes brainwash works too) regular pruning. We have all probably seen the amazing results of regular pruning but some people just will not pay for it. My view is, if they are dead set on having the thing toped it might as well be me doing it instead of someone with spikes (hahaha spikes in a bradford pear) that will rip and tear all the cuts.

 

[Gumneck]

Yeah, if they can't be marketed into yearly maintenance, than your right might as well be you.

 

[tnttreeman]

Seems like every other house in the neighborhoods I work in has at least one. Can't tell you how many of them I've seen split apart after good winds. They certainly need regular pruning at the very least. Amazing how quickly that they get too dense and put out watersprouts like crazy. I try to point that out to the homeowners as often as possible.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I would recomend a long term crown restoration on any of this cv. Doing 10% every year to reduce bad unions and thin them out.

One of the problems is that they are sold by cv. instrad of sp. which is Pyrus calleryana

UConn Plant ID site-P. calleryana

The above is a page from a very good ID info source I've listed on a number of occasions.

Now if topping is the only good remedy for this type of plant, then I would do the thinning with a pollard on a 1-3 year schedule.

In the ice belt of the northern south, sometimes this is needed to keep lousey branch unions from ripping out.

Does everyone know what true pollarding is?

 

[darkstar]

how about the jeffs acer red maples reccomnedations ...looks good so far ...dark ????????????

 

[DirtTroll]

After living through the the wake of destruction of hurricane ISABEL. Bradford pears are one of my new favorite trees. They fall apart and don't wreck havok to their surroundings. On the other hand, almost all the oak trees in the area came down except the live oak variety. Many through peoples houses. Pines typical broke the tap root and just leaned and rarely came though houses. Gums, I hate gum balls but hardly any of these came down along with magnolias.

Moral of the story keep Oaks away from houses. I used to love oaks near a house. Now, I don't think that anyone in their right mind should have an oak near their house.

 

[NickfromWI]

I used to love oaks near a house. Now, I don't think that anyone in their right mind should have an oak near their house.

Or maybe people should not live where the hurricanes are!

I never thought about your perspective of crappy trees (bradford pears) being LESS of a liability- but it makes sense.

And thanks for the report about what withstood the storms. Those of us in other parts of the country might not be so in tuned to storm resistance!

love
nick

 

[glens]

Okay,

Oaks == the <i>real</i> cars from the '60s
Bradford Pears == the current disintegrate-on-impact design methodology

 

[kennertree]

darkstar, im up here around knoxville tn, alot of people top the bradfords here too. ive thinned and reduced alot of bradfords over the past few years and try to convince the customer that is best but there are some that still want them topped. the only ones ive topped were the ones i thought were in the last year or two of their life so maybe it helped to get a few more years out of it. if the tree is not too old and has quite a few years left i just keep them thin and reduce some weight at lateral branches. zack

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

how about the jeffs acer red maples reccomnedations ...looks good so far ...dark ????????????

Is that a cv. of red maple? I've not heard of it, or could I find anything on the web.

Too lazy to pull out Dirr and take a look

 

[okietreedude1]

a few years back I sold a thin job on one as the way to prevent storm failure only to have the thing fall apart several weeks later in a heavy t-storm.

I happened to be off work when it happened so I never heard if the lady was really upset or not.

After our ice storm 3 yrs ago, we had people top them at 3' and now theyre nice shaped 'things'.

Best way to look at them is JOB SECURITY so plant them like mad!!!!

 

[darkstar]

yes is is a cv. of red maple ... it grows like a gigantic bush many many thin vertical and lat. branches then it turns bright red in fall ill look it up for you ....dark

 

[treeseer]

I don't think that anyone in their right mind should have an oak near their house.

A well-maintained oak is a safe asset; I've seen many stand up to hurricanes Hugo-Isabel and ice storms.
When Bradfods hit middle age the best thing for them is a tree growth regulator. Cheaper and simpler than pruning, and a better long-term look to them.

Reducing to small laterals is NOT topping; look it up in ANSI, guys.