my bradford pear needs help

Some of the branches have died and on these branches the bark has split. This is a beautiful 30 to 40 ft. tree and I cannot aford tohire a professional to save it. Anyone have any ideas.

We have the same problem here with ours. Since your posting is several years old, has the situation improved? We have a completely healthy tree for years, then boom, a branch falls off and the bark is splitting. The hummer builds her nest in the nearby clematis, so I spend a great deal of time standing at the trunk filming the nest. One day I noticed this herd of bugs running up and down the trunk and I wondered if they had nested inside the tree! I called the ag dept out to identify the bug. When they showed up the next day, poof, they were all gone and we have not noticed them since. We could not spray due to the continual nests. I will be interested if anyone responds or has any ideas. I would absolutely hate to lose this tree.

Janet? How are you?
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/444185/

Structurally, they aren't a sound tree for just the reasons you mentioned. Damage to homes by these species costs insurance companies millions and millions of dollars yet they are still incredibly popular because they grow fast, real fast. I had quite a few here and I removed all but one. They sure are beautiful though while they last. There are other concerns with the Bradford or rather any Caleryana Pear

http://www.agnr.umd.edu/ipmnet/5-8art1.htm

You may hate to lose your Caleryana but that day will most probably come because the Bradfords and other cultivars of this species generally only last about 12-15 years anyway. I began planting new saplings up close to the non fruiting Caleryana that is remaining here so they can get established before a good high wind comes and topples the beauty I have by my back patio. I planted a Bosc to the left of it and a Bartlett to the right of it. I'll still get that same lovely shape and the nice white blossoms in spring plus real fruit which will be nice. I like pears so I planted a Kieffer somewhere over here too.

In case anyone missed the announcement elsewhere, JCF passed away in October...

In re: Bradford Pears, my neighbor lost a 20-foot Bradford Pear (and a good portion of his guttering and some shingles in a bad storm two years ago. Sadly enough, I think he's planted another one in its place, even though I cautioned him to consider something else. (His garden was featured on HGTV's Secret Gardens, so what do I know? ;o)

We have one Bradford (not planted by us) that will eventually fall prey to the chainsaw. Ours is not located where it would do any damage if it split or sheared off, but I'm highly allergic to the pollen. Combined with its weak-wooded propensities, I became a Bradford Pear opponent a long time ago.

Ironically, our last home was in a subdivision where the developer planted a minimum of two Bradfords on each property to line the streets. (We had a corner lot, so we had three of them, lucky us.) I'm glad I won't be around to see what that nice, upscale neighborhood looks like when those Bradfords get sheared off or split in a typical Oklahoma storm....ugh.

This year, I finally started making some headway on replacing the former owners' trees and shrubs on this property. Nuttall Oaks will eventually take the place of a large slver-leaf maple, Amelanchier (Serviceberry) will replace the Bradford Pear, fothergilla and calycanthus to replace the Euonymus bushes. With so many readily available, equally (if not more) attractive plants, I can't help but wonder why people (homeowners and landscapers) make some of the choices they do.

Where did you get your Fothergilla if you don't mind my asking?

Old Time Pottery is headquartered here in Murfreesboro. In addition to having acres of home decor and bedding/bath/kitchen goods, the owner dabbles in the nursery trade. It's only our local store that has greenhouses attached to it.

Long story short, they run an awesome early summer sale on plants, so I lugged home a three-gallon pot for something like $8: http://davesgarden.com/pdb/showimage/48436/

It suffered a bit during the next couple months, until I could get the new bed ready, but I think it'll be fine next year.

Yup, Mt Airy is the one I wanted. I need to find a mail order for that. The three I ordered were dwarfs I just realized gosh darnit.

http://davesgarden.com/ps/search.php?search_text=fothergilla&submit=Search

Also try:
Greer Gardens: http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/428/
Digging Dog: http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/245/
Lazy K Nursery: http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/1177/
Niche Gardens: http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/36/
ArborVillage: http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/704/
Triple Oaks Nursery: http://davesgarden.com/gwd/c/1955/

They all carry Fothergilla; most - if not all - carry 'Mt. Airy'

I don't know how close this place is to you, but Read's Creek Nursery is in SW Wisconsin - they don't do mailorder, but they carry it: http://www.readscreeknursery.com/lists/shrubs.shtml

Niche had them! They also had Sarracenia leucophylla 'Tarnok'. I've been looking for that since the patents were called in!

The Read's Creek is where I'll probably order the Fothergilla Mt Airy from as they're somewhat local and they'll be hardier having been grown closer to where. I saw they had the Fothergilla monticola listed so I need to check that out. I had accidentally ordered three Fothergilla gardeniis. Oops.

Hey, thanks!

You're welcome.

Equil,

Mt. Airy is a cultivar. Just FYI. I think the species is Fothergilla gardenii. Theres a Fothergilla Gardenii Minor, which is a sub-species of the Gardenii, but is not a cultivar. April

I'm ordering from her place in Wisconsin as it's in our region. Go to the link she provided for readscreek and see what you think. I already ordered the Fothergilla gardenii as that was what I had on the tag I plucked. It's on my counter. Let me get up and go look. Be back.

Well, somebody moved my tag from the kitchen counter. It was the tag from the plant over at Franks Nursery and Crafts. Which Fothergilla was that? Do you recall?

Would Fothergilla Gardenii Minor be the dwarf subspecies?

I had heard that about Bradford pears and the town we live near has them planted all along Main Street!