Was on HOA board where we had a road with quite a few of these trees. They were a fortune to prune because of the numerous small branches at higher reaches. As a board, we actually hoped they would come down in storms so we could replace with something more appropriate without the take down cost (and resident complaints).<p>Another unqiue thing is during the summer it was not uncommon for a branch to suddenly explode - apparently some type of moisture/vapor build up in the interior.
The company that I worked for, had a row of these across the primo parking spaces.<p>During the fall months, these parking spaces were always available.<p>I found out why.<p>If you park under one of these things in November, you come out in the evening, and it looks like every incontinent buzzard on Earth sat over your car.
This is good news. In my area the only thing worse than Bradford pears are the Mimosas. It took me ~3 years of consistent work to clear off the Mimosas from our 1 acre lot in town. And I still have to spray or hand pull hundreds of the tiny ones each season because none of my neighbors have been as diligent.
Important note: There are now hybrid species that don't have the same downsides as the original true Bradford pear. Most of what are planted now are these hybrids.
I love reading about this kind of stuff. My neighbor has a bunch of Brazilian pepper trees, and let me tell you, those things are a nightmare. Incredibly invasive, grows extremely well in our climate, no natural predators here, and they outcompete almost every other tree. I cut a branch from one that was deforming a palm tree due to the way the branch had grown.
Is it me, or does it seem like "invasive pear tree" has become a big story this spring, seemingly out of nowhere. Maybe I just don't follow news around this, but this spring there have been both local and national stories about municipalities dealing with these trees. I'm not saying it's not a story, just that I wasn't aware of it before and am wondering if it reached some kind of critical mass as a problem just this year.
Oh damn, and I thought lemon trees were fun to prune. These can kill you and smell terrible. At least lemon trees tend to smell nice while threatening you with enormous thorns during pruning.<p>Somewhat worse: Krauter Vesuvius / Cherry Plum trees stain sidewalks and make a horrible mess every year.
<p><pre><code> The original Bradford pear tree was ideal for planting because it was thought to be sterile in that it could not reproduce. -- TFA
John Hammond: There you are. There. They imprint on the first creature they come in contact with. Helps them to trust me. I've been present for the birth of every creature on this island.
Ian Malcolm: Well, surely not the ones that have bred in the wild.
Henry Wu: Actually, they can't breed in the wild. Population control is one of our security precautions. There is no unauthorized breeding in Jurassic Park.
Ian Malcolm: Uh, and how do you know they can't breed?
Henry Wu: Well that's because all the animals in Jurassic Park are female. We've engineered them that way.</code></pre>
> it's contributing to the spread of related invasive trees that are taking over some urban green spaces and pastureland and encroaching on forests.<p>I'll save you from the auto playing view port locker video.
When we bought our house we had 3 city trees which were Bradford pear trees. We lots two of them during rainy season. One lost a major branch. The other got uprooted. I've read Bradford tree<p>I'm in California. Our city doesn't allow Bradford pear trees anymore. When we bought our hour we had three Bradford pear trees. Over time we lost two of them during rainy seasons. One got uprooted and the other broke off a major branch. Both times it was fortunate that nobody was injured or property got damaged. Ended up replacing them all.
Ah, typical. Nature taking its course and, once again, humans decide they know what's better and is going in to "correct" things. Then a few years in there's the cry about the disruption that was caused, and yet even more attempts at rectification. A never-ending cycle, because we can't learn to be hands off. Well I guess the cycle will eventually end given things are always somewhat worse with every swing of the correction pendulum, so at some point it'll all just... crash.