I just visited my girlfriend in her and her husbands new digs, and she has 3 Bradford Pears in the front yard. No other trees in the front yard, just them. She is really having a hard time believing they're weak wooded, invasive and don't last long, but she doesn't want 3 of them. She was asking me for suggestions on an alternative for them (ya know, since I'm so smart). She likes the shape of them, and I'm drawing a blank. Anyone with suggestions? Native or indigenous is great, but not a necessity. She wants to attract wildlife to her yard. Once she removes these trees from the front, she really has a blank slate to work with. Even anything that doesn't have that shape, is a possibility. Please give me some idea's to pass on to her.
Thanks,
Terry
Alternative for Bradford Pear
I just love to hate Asian Calleryana Pears! Tell your girlfriend she's on the right track removing those. I suspect you influenced her decision to remove them. Good for you.
I love Hawthorns.
I love Fringe Trees.
I love Dogwoods.
I love Redbuds.
There's a start.
How about Amelanchiers? Pretty white flowers in the spring and berries in early summer that attract a slew of birds. Kinda like a Bradford?
How about one of the tree Viburnums like lentago (nannyberry) or prunifolium (blackhaw)?
Would she be interested in a conifer?
Very good you two, very good. I had thought of a redbud, I actually got some seeds for one yesterday at the nursery we went to, but I was thinking of it as more of an understory tree. I was so turned around in there, my body compass wasn't working. To guess, I'd say the front is facing South. If it isn't South, then it's East. Or Southeast........
Yes, Equil, I think I did influence her just a tad. She won't believe me however, on the weak woodedness of them. She's read it (and she hates to read), but never seen it. She also just loves her miscanthus grass. I stopped her from buying one yesterday. Ain't I bad? I did get her to buy a butterfly weed though.
Did I mention that she has a Crimson King (or queen, who knows) Norway Maple in her backyard. She wanted to move it. I told her to just get it out. Junk tree. It's gooooing! She just needs to hand her yard over to me and let me do my magic.....lol.....
Oh, does anyone have pictures of a Bradford that's been fallen by it's weak wood that they can post and wouldn't mind if I sent the pic to her? And Equil, that pic of all the miscathus on a farmers land? Pictures do speak a thousand words.....
Terry, there are pictures of damaged Bradfords all over the net. Here are a few . . .
Recovery? I don't think so.
How would she like to see this after a storm?
Or this?
And if the tree survives major damage, would she want this in her yard?
Terry, resin posted a really choice photo a while back. I tried to find it but couldn't. Bummer.
FW87, you didn't go far enough in the google search engine for images;)
here's another-
Looks as if a whole row of them were affected by an ice storm here-
another-
and another-
One last one but I'm sure there are hundreds if somebody wants to pick up from Google images where I left off-
Well, Terry, those pics ought to do the trick. Mine will get her thinking, but Equil's will have her out there with her chainsaw next weekend!
FW87, I wasn't kidding... I literally found those photos on line at the pages you left off searching. I had to giggle to myself at how many Bradfords there were online that had come down. There aren't hundreds of images, there are thousands.
I have one last Calleryana Pear left on my property. My husband finally said I could take it down the end of this summer after he had it one last season so he could barbecue in shade.
Who will assist me taking this tree down?
Terry? Roadtrip? Thin Mints in it for you!
Heck yea! I love chainsaws, not as much as Thin Mints, but almost. I emailed the others to her, but I sure can do another one. Funny thing is, I did a Google image search that turned up nothing. I did find others just doing a regular search. I found the one from resin, the one split right down the middle in the snow? By a stop sign? Let me see if I can find the thread...
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/564435/
Her dad is coming sometime soon to take out the Norway Maple and what she calls soft maples, so hopefully, he'll take the Pears out too. I don't even see what the attraction is.
A couple years ago our neighbors split during an ice storm. This was a huge one, beautiful shaped tree which of couse made it too top heavy. It just missed our roof and the part on their side just missed theirs. If the space is good size how about one of the stonger maples, good nesting and beautiful fall colors. People seem to forget birds need good trees to nest. Conifers are good for nesting too.
I think maples are overused. At least around my neck of the woods. Every neighbor has at least one, and I dug up a smallish Norway one. I would just like to see diverse plantings at her house, that nobody else does or has. She has 6 maples now in her backyard, I believe 4 are coming out. Her right hand neighbors are full of conifers, the people behind have conifers, and the people to her left have conifers. There's a dwarf something conifer she wants, I wasn't familiar, so I really don't remember what it was.
Her yard is much larger than my own, so I'd like her to plant what I can't but would love to. A Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) would be great in a part of the back yard and a Tulip Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) in the front yard would be perfect if she removes all the Bradford pears.
See, now, I just love oaks - big and shady, nice & strong and lots of acorns for the wildlife...but that's just me. Some don't like that they grow so slowly.
And, after seeing both the over-use of bradford pears and how utterly BADLY they survive even tropical storm winds and ice storms (and don't even mention how they did in the Cat 1 hurricance a few years ago - Isabel), I just see no redeeming value to the things - except that, when everything is right for them, they're somewhat pretty.
I like maples, but am finding their little seedlings to be somewhat invasive - easy enough to mow over when small, but EVERYWHERE.
I love oaks too, but I know she wants something to shade her front yard. That's why I was thinking of the Liriodendron tulipifera. They grow somewhat faster than an oak, or if they don't, correct me. They're getting a pool, so I know she wants to keep the tree sizes on the small side in the back yard. A Chinquapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) is a good thought though for the front yard.....hmmm....
That's exactly why she hates what she calls soft maples. The whirly gig things in the spring. She used a coal shovel to scoop them up and they reseeded everywhere. Her last house had 4 of them in the backyard.
Just another suggestion that I don't think anyone mentioned is a Crab Apple tree. They are very hard wood. I know this because I would use the wood for Macaw perches. Macaws have huge beaks and love to chew. That was about the only wood that I could find in my yard that would last them awhile and not be toxic. They also bloom very pretty and can make a pretty tree. Not sure about your zoning for them, but they do well in my zone.
I have several Tulip Trees in my backyard. Very big and old. Flowering time is beautiful though all the flowers are at the top because of too many trees back there and most lower branches were long gone years ago. However, they are very messy. Lots of gutter clog. Flower things (I don't think techinically they are petals but the things that look like the petals) fall all Spring. The seed pods are plentiful and huge in the Fall. I was very pleased to learn that they are good for squirrels and birds because at least they serve a purpose.
The leaves are heavy and don't rake nearly as easily as maple and beech in the Fall. Branches fall pretty often. It's a soft wood, though nothing like the Bradford problems. (I don't know that younger trees - say under 50 years or so - drop many branches. I think this is due to normal aging and being so very tall. More branches fall from the Tulip Trees in very heavy winds than fall from the beeches and maples.)
The seeds germinate easily and the young trees grow very quickly. However, I haven't found that to be a problem because they pull up easily (unlike a Whilte Mulberry that is four inches tall and already has a tap root four feet deep.)
I'm not trying to discourage anyone from getting a Tulip Tree. Just be sure they don't get planted anywhere near guttering.
I just got an email from her and 2 of the 3 are coming out!! She got the photos, but I'm telling you, she isn't believing me! I'm going to email all these suggestions to her. With all the great trees out there, I just don't understand wanting to keep one.....and it doesn't shade her hubby's grill to keep him cool.....lol Equil.....