Posted on 12/05/2021 7:12:27 PM PST by Berlin_Freeper
Bringing the Bradford pear tree to Maine seemed like a good idea at the time.
Fast growing with early spring blooms of white flowers, the tree, also called callery pear, is a popular ornamental in the state. But it’s also an invasive species that smells incredibly bad and if it gets a foothold in Maine’s natural landscape, could have a devastating effect on native species.
That’s what is happening right now in the southern United States. It’s gotten so bad in South Carolina that officials there are planning to outlaw the sale and purchase of the tree by 2024 and offering a bounty to eradicate existing trees.
(Excerpt) Read more at wgme.com ...
They call it the Hillary Tree?
No silly, it’s the Biden Tree. :-)
They evidently take up the ecological niche that cedars occupy.
Fields in Missouri used to grow up in cedars when left alone.
Now they grow up in Bradford pears.
Lol!
Lol!
In my city,it is illegal to plant a cottonwood tree.
I don’t even want to THINK about Mr. Depends’s, er, consumables.
I live in SC. I love the Bradford Pear tree. It is beautiful in Spring when it blooms. never smelled fishy at all to me.
Many people in the South plant this tree deliberately because they like it.
Around here, they seem to have a relatively short lifespan. The blooms only last a couple of weeks before the trees turn green.
I had one of those in my yard and it never smelled like rotting fish.
One day a couple of years ago I noticed a change in color of the leaves. Then I found the tree had died so cut it down.
I noticed lots of these pear trees had died that year.
If you burn the wood does it smell like filet-o-fish?
CC
People obviously like them for the beautiful spring flowers and red foliage in the fall.
Personally, I find them to be a brittle little tree and cannot stand the slightest hint of a rain cloud. In Texas the typical Bradford Pear is missing about a third of its branches because of one windstorm or another.
I wish my HOA would let me get rid of it.
They were prevalent in N.TX. pretty in spring, messy when the blossoms drop. Pretty in fall, when the leaves turn. Major mess when the leaves drop. City of FW had them planted in the median in my area. Cut them all down 2 years ago. Always losing branches or splitting during severe storms
It’s an easy tree for municipalities to use as it maintains the basic lollipop shape.
Can handle dry summers.
Pretty enough when it blossoms, not to messy, simple leaves.
Way too overplanted.
Never noticed a bad smell.
Kill it.
Make some cuts in the bark and soak them with a strong glyphosate solution.
It will kill the tree eventually. Then you have an eyesore that needs to be removed.
Mr. mm and I have found a lot of invasive species on our NH property.
We are trying to get rid of what we can and replacing it with native species.
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