Brentwood, TN

Bradford Pears -- I planted 5 bradford pears in 1986. They have grown very fast. However, if given the chance, I would not do so again. They grow up to be very weak trees. Branches are now falling off in wind storms which do not affect other tree varieties (oak, etc.). Branches appear to be very "brittle." In the earlier years, the tree has a lovely shape, but appears to evolve into a more vertical, less pleasing shape. One reader mentioned a rotten smell associated with the beautiful blossoms of the flowers that occur in the spring. That is true. Overall, I would highly recommend any other quality tree as a substitute or replacement for a young bradford pear. It has definitely fallen out of favor now with those who recommend tree types. Initially, I was told to expect a 50 year tree life, but I have seen many bradford pears lose major branches or fall over in half that life span.

We had two beautiful 40 foot Bradford Pears out front.Hurricane Isabel snapped them in two so hubby cut them to the ground.They grew back with more than 17 small trunks completely covered in 3 to 6 inch porcupine spikes.I tried to cut it back and have something like poison ivy from hell from my "demon trees"
I have never seen anything like this in my life.They are horrible.

I have 7 Bradford Pear trees that were all planted at the same time, about 9 years ago. Three of them have less than half the leaves they usually have. This is the first year that something has been wrong with them. Is there anything I can do to save them?

I have four Bradforf Pear Trees they all were planted at the same time, but they all are different sizes. They are about five years old. My problem is that one looks like its dying, it doesn't have many leaves and just doesn't look as good as the others. What can I do to try to save this tree?

As a general rule topping is bad. Bradford pear trees have bad crotches or as poor/weak unions. ie. they tend to break apart after snow and ice storms. They are not good ornamental or street trees and really should be avoided all together. If you have one the best pruning that can be done is pruning to take whole leaders out to eliminate these unions. Some weight can be taken out as well. Installation of cables is not a bad idea. As for Abby's tree. This was a hack job done by uncertified landscapers that need to stick to the grass. When in doubt hire a professional arborist that is ISA or MCA certified.

I would like to receive some definite information as to the proper way to trim a BRADFORD PEAR TREE, and if the same should be TOPPED.

Hi

My lawn moving company offered to trim the Bradford tree when I was not around. My husband agreed to it. He did a bad job. Now its lost its form. One side he cropped off several branches.
Everytime I see this, I am very unhappy. Is there any chance for the limbs to grow back.

Thanks

I had four Bradford's that were trimmed (hacked) and were transformed just as the before and after pictures you shared. However, my trees are now full of a green bush like fungus South GA natives refer to as "holly." It has taken over all of my trees and I fear is choking what is left of my trees. I have been told there is nothing I can do. It's too high up to trim and I am afraid my Bradford's are on their last leg(s). Any ideas?

Bradford pear trees don't have thorns. The grafted roots however do, always trim off low limbs that have thorns off a bradford pear.

I have a Bradford in my front yard which was planted way before the hosue came into our hands.Up until last year it bloomed real well and had no signs of problems. We had a record amount of rain last year then a late freeze.In the spring I put in the grass weed and feed because our neighbors decided to let their yard go to crap and the weeds were terrible. Anyways I noticed bout mid to late summer that half the leaves were green and half were black.I usually dont pay attention in the fall when the leaves fall off.This year it hasn't bloomed and the only leaves on it are the black ones from last year.The twigs I pulled off I know are dead due to being brown and how easily they came off.With the storms as of lately in DFW area of Texas none of the branches have been broken off except tiny twigs. Our yard guys trimmed back a few limbs to check it and seem to notice it had some life to it.I also notice when I watered the base of the tree with some miracle grow there is some green looking moss growing up the trunk.What can I do to save it and have it bloom again or am I too late to save it.Should we trim it far back to stubs now or wait till the fall?I even asked if maybe I put too much weed and feed on the yard last year could have poisoned it. We have bout 4 Crape Myrtles in the front and they are doing awesome. Is there a natural organic way to treat it and bring it back or should I just cut it down and start over.I really did enjoy it when it bloomed, it provide nice shade to are small front yard area.

as i sit here at my computer, i hear the sound of chainsaws. I live in an apartment complex, and as of this date, ALL trees have been cut to the nub stage. Horrible, just looks horrible. When u try to tell management that it's too late, to no avail. Even the flowering cherry (umbrella) tree looks like a skeleton.

The problem with our 11 year old Bradford Pears is they are full and green after flowering season, but when all others in the area are flowering beautifully, ours do almost nothing. Only a few scattered blossoms near the bottom. Very disappointing. They have never been pruned and appear the same shape of others in our community. What do you recommend?

My bradfords are 13 and 8 years never thinned or topped yet. I got a tree service out to the house and they told me never to top a Bradford Pear Tree only thin its inside branches and crotch reduction only is the best for the tree..i think i will go that way. $130 for both trees..

we live in Pa and have two Bradford Pear Trees one is about 13 and the other is 8. i had a name by the name of Stephen redding from Happy Tree Service come out a he told me he would thin out the inside branches and crotch reduction on both trees. He would not recommend topping at all.. so I guess the size of the tree will stay the same but just thin the inside out. I have seen some of them cut back so baddly they looked ungly and do not want that look really. He agreed as he has a few that have lasted 30 to 35 years so far. He said he would thin it now in January..

Hi, I'm a gardener and in one of our situations a pear tree had a fungi in the trunk and it dried up the tree.Do you know of any ways I could get rid of it?

Bob here,
Yes, now is the best time to prune trees during the time they are dormant.

Bradford can live 35-40 years if they are located in a sheltered area on the southeast side of a house or on the east side of a ridgeline. The problem with most bradfords is that they get damaged by wind, ice storms or heavy thunderstorms with lots of rain.

Marcy's tree needs 1-2 of the large braches removed per year and the interior of the tree pruned. The interior pruning opens up the canopy and lets the wind blow through the tree. Up to 1/2 of the height of the tree can be removed by drop crotch pruning. The tree will grow new branches and will probably need to be repruned in 3-5 years.

I live in the west Nashville area and if peo[le would like to talk to me about their trees, call 615-210-1932 after 8 pm.

Bob

Huge Bradford Pear with no center limb needs trimming badly. I'm hoping Bob's still around and will give me some help. When I replaced a diseased birch tree with this, I was told it was a suitable "ornamental" for inside the front area of my U-shaped ranch; this from a plant nursery w/landscape services! 15+ yrs. later it towers over my 1-story home and the limbs hang over the roof, though we keep them trimmed up so as not to touch. Trunk is 4' from corner of foundation and 8' from front of house. Nine branches, all 5" to 7", meet within a one & one-half foot space. One might be the central one, but even it is on an angle. Because it's on the north side of the house and protected by the wrap of the U-shape (garage juts out and protects the N/W winds), the tree has probably done better than most. It appears very healthy and I, and the neighborhood kids who climb it, love it. If pruned properly can I let it rise above the house, or will there be such exposed mass that my house might be in significant jeopardy from N or N/W winds which would push it toward the house? I've read the negatives about "topping", so find myself in a real quandary.

Thanks for any help I may receive,
Marcy

MY WIFE STUCK A THORN FROM A BRADFORD PEAR TREE, IT HURTS REAL BAD ANY SUGGESTIONS ON RELIEF

I have a beautiful bradford pear tree in my yard. I have had it for 7 years now. Someone told me that a bradford pear tree only survives for about 15 years. Is this true? Thanks and I look forward to an answer.

Can Bradfords be trimmed back now? It is the beginning of November.

Lisa,

Thanks for your nice comments.

Finally found the site again. If the tree is sending up new sprouts away from the trunk of the tree, then it is in the process of dying. The root sprouts arre a natural response of the tree to start new trees.

Another thing about Bradford Pears is that they were grafted onto another variety of pear tree in order to speed up the growth. The root stock was some type of thorny pear tree and if that's the case, the best thing to do is to remove the tree and have the stump ground up including the lateral roots.

Overwatering can be as bad as not enough water. Trees need both oxygean and water and if the ground is too saturated, it can prevent air from getting to the roots. Having said that, the extreme drought condition we have been in, I'm not sure you could overwater a tree. I have a 48" diameter ash tree in my back yard and my water bill will be over $100 for all the water I have be doing. But, I feel its better to spend $100 to keep the tree living rather than pay 400 to $1,000+ to have the trees removed after them are dead.

The person who put the ammonium sulfate "fertilizer" wasn't fertilizing the tree. Ammonium sulfate is an acidizer that is used to lower the pH for plants like blueberries, azaleas, rhondodendrons, etc. The fertilizer is ammonium nitrate and is 100% nitrogen. The better fertilizer to use is a 10-10-10 balanced fertilizer in the spring (February-March) and in the fall(the next 30 days).

Carol's situation is that the yellow bellied sapsuckers are the primary bird that creates the holes, but woodpeckers will also do that. I lost a leather liverleaf viburnum this year due to the fact that the birds ended up girdling the shrubs.

Hope this helps!
Bob Richards

I have just one Bradford Pears and have had it since 2000. This spring 2007,nearly all the Bradford Pears in the neighborhood had a horrible smell (like somthing had crawled into the ground and died)just after their blooms. I would like to know what caused this to happen after all these years.

I paid an arborist to come and look at my 80% brown bradford pear. HE said cut the water off because of the excess rain this year. Get the dirt away from the trunk I had built up which we did. Also they sprayed it for red headed ash boars which were seen, with a chemical called acephate. i also put a lot of ammonium sulfate around the trunk and watered in well to give it a shot of nitrogen. The leaves turn yellow red brown and the tree is 80% brown but it looks like new leaves are replacing the old ones. We have had record rains this year in the dallas area along with oklahoma. i personally believe it is a combination of too much moisture, a fungus and insects that have invaded due to the stress caused by too much water, too fast growth and now very hot and dry temperatures. i think the bradfords are responding to all in all a very weird season.
if anyone else lives in the north dallas or plano texas area and has this problem pleaSE POST. and we can compare notes.
if anyone else has a good idea what is causing this please respond. i have another bradford within 40 feet of the brown one and it is still looking beautiful. i do know that most of my plants this year have all been stricken with fungal diseases of some sort including the hydrangeas and rosebushes. i will let you know if the tree recovers. the guy that posted about the holes - it is probably bores. check for bleeding of the tree and also toothpick like things coming out from the holes,these are exit holes where the bores come out.
when trimming the branches, check for branches that cross over. start looking just around the trunk area and get rid of those that have to cross another branch. this is what causes the bradfords to split from a storm. take those completely out or you will end up with a tree split right down the middle. we keep ours trimmed out in very early spring and we endured 90 mph in the spring without a limb lost although several neighbors had half of their other kinds of trees down in their yards. so take a good look at your bradford and trim it out while it is dormant. also remember to spike it every spring with tree spikes along the drip line. good luck to all you bradford tree lovers - i love mine and only hope the browm one turns green once again.

I have four large Bradford Pear trees, 2 in front of the house and 2 on the side. They are quite large and two of them have had large branches split from the trunk. I've had several estimates on what to do to save them. A couple of tree people said to get rid of them (which I will not do)and if not, they should be topped. Everything I have read about topping trees is very negative and we are warned not to do it. On the other hand, if I have them do a "drop-crotch pruning" which is the proper way to trim a Bradford, it could cost me about $600.00 per tree. That is too expensive for me.
Any advise?

BROWN LEAVE DISCUSSION.....this spring I planted 2 bradford pears. They both have been doing great until just this week. The leaves on one have turned brown yet I have been watering them equal amounts. We have had a ton of rain in the last 4 months in Oklahoma. The "problem" tree is planted just downhill from my lateral lines and septic tank. So my suspicion is that the excessive rain in conjunction with too much fertilizer(ie.lateral lines) may be the source of the problem. Just spectulation....but I think this tree is getting "too" much care. Any thoughts?

I have 12 bradford pear trees and about a week
ago all the leaves on only this one were red. Just like october , now they are all falling off I have a few old green ones left but it is not looking good I think it is slowly leaving us .What is wrong What can I do .

I just purchased 2 bradford pear trees and have fallen in love w/them I have only had them for 3 days now and just want to make sure I am doing everything to make sure it gets rooted correctly right now I am watering once a day for 10 min on each my trees are about 10-15 ft tall single trunks one is a litte bigger than the other I live in dallas tx so you know summers are hot I really want to make sure I'm doing this right and should I get some tree food for them

This last ice storm did a number on our Bradford Pear tree, snaped the center right out of it. It didnt' get the big leads on either side. It looks very sad. We know this is the wrong time of the year to trim back but that is what we are in the process of doing now. Not sure who far down we should trim (cut) the two sides down to make it look good but not harm new growth. Can someone give me some advice. The center snaped about chest high on a 5'3" short woman (me). The other 2 sides that are left are about 20' high. We are gonna put candle wax on the places we cut to help reduce, when it rains moister getting in a rotting it. Is this a good idea?

I just had five trees planted next to my patio. On three, the leaves are brown and looked burned but the tops of the trees look healthy. I too, am watering like mad. Any thoughts?

We just bought a Bradford Pear tree, 15ft. tall, very skinny trunk. We dug a hole twice the size, used potting soil, watered the hole, mixed it with dirt...all the right way. It is planted it in full sun, but now the leaves are falling off and starting to curl. We are watering it like MAD. It is dying? Please help. Nicola

Abby, I have a Bradford Pear(2)problem similar to yours. Could you tell me when is the best time of year to have them trimmed and if by any chance you live near Nashville, TN, who did the trimming? Thanks much. Jane

Since this topic has taken a left turn to brown leaves, I also have this issue. I have 2 bradford pears in my front yard, however only 1 is very thin and only has brown leaves on the north side; all others are green. We have gotten much more rain than normal this year however I haven't seen any other bradford pears in the neighborhood with brown leaves. I have pics of both trees and from one of the brown leaves. Also, there is no moss or anything growing on the trunk. Any ideas?

Bob your comments were very helpful to me regarding the brown leaves which I suspected were due to the freeze, so this comment is to you if you still are trolling this area. We had cut back the trees this winter so had little green on the tree when the freeze hit. One of our trees is really affected with about 80% brown. Is there anything I can do to help this tree? It is still shooting up green all over the yard from the roots, so I am not feeling like it is dead. Should we remove these branches with the brown leaves on them? They snap off and are brittle with no green in them.

I'm the owner of a small Tree Service busines and work it partime. Also do landscaping and trail planning and construction. Have a B.S. in Forestry from UTK, and have been doing tree work since 1985. Trees are amazing organisms.

Todd's brown leaves are probably from the freeze in April, although Bradford's are susceptible to fungal diseases. However, having said that, it's been so dry there's been no moisture for the fungi to grow. Remember to water your trees during this time of drought and that a good soaking is better than than a 2 minute spray each evening. Use a sprinkler and let it run 15-20 minutes and then move it to the other side of the tree. Do this once a week in the morning because watering in the evening trends to cause fungal diseases to grow.

Bradford's do have structural weaknesses with the multi stem trunks. The way to deal with them is to keep them trimmed back to 20-25 feet which a homwowner can do with a extending pole pruner and a step ladder. The time to trim trees is during the winter when the tree is dormant. Also, keep an eye on the tree and prune it before the tree(s) get out of control. Interior pruning is also a good idea because the wind needs to be able to move through the tree canopy. The trunks can be cabled together to help provide stability with some movement. If you buy a Bradford Pear tree, try to find one that has a single trunk with a good leader and multiple branches as compared to multiple trunks.

Tristan needs to make at least a partial payment to the arborist who did the trimming, but Ron's comment is excellent. Make sure you understand what is going to be cut or trimmed before it's done, you can't superglue branches back on a tree. Another option is to be there when the work is being done and ask a lot of questions. Some companies get extremely upset because they feel you are questioning their expertise and ability. Remember, they're the experts and that's why you hired them!

Hope these comments help you understand about your Bradfords and taking care of trees in general.

I fell in love with the Bradford pears, enough to plant nine of them around the perimeter of my front yard shortly after moving into my new house last year! Now I see that some of you recommend cutting them back yearly. Is it too late to do that now, and if not, how do I go about it? Also, two of them seem to be infested with small ants, and the leaves are browing and curling up. What to do??

I have a bradford pear tree in my front yard. The problem is that
some of the leaves are curling up and turning brown. My neighbor thinks it is an insect problem, but from what I have read these trees
are very resistant to insects. We did have a hard freeze after the
tree did it's spring bloom this year, and I thought that's all it was
until she mentioned the insect problem. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Todd

I have a Bradford Pear Tree that is about 11 years old, beautiful and over the house top. I have discovered that the truck of the tree at the bottom is getting a yellowish color on it and there are small holes in the tree going upwards. Looks like a woodpecker hole. They are so even around the tree and all almost the same size. Could you tell me what this could be and is it treatable. I sure would hate to have to cut it down. thanks, Carol

David, you mught try fertilizer. Bore 1" diamter holes 12" deep around the tree, 6' or so from the trunk, and fill each hole with 10-10-10 fertilizer or use "tree spike" type fertilizer. May not help, but couldn't hurt.

My grandfather always said that a pear tree lives by the knive. I believe a Bradford pear must be cut back dramatically every year , kinda like crype myrtle,

I have a bradford pear and year before last it lost all of its leaves prematurely in the middle of a hot summer. I kept it watered anyway and I hoped it would come back in the spring. It did bloom out and the trunk looks good, but the leaves still did not come back fully. what do I need to do. HELP!. Thanks David

Tristan, sorry you had problems with the tree trimming service you contracted. I work for a tree care company and I always make an effort to ensure that the customers' expectations are understood and our position on trimming is understood as well. Bradford pears are difficult to deal with because their physiology makes them self destruct over time. They have too many limbs coming out too close together and as they grow they push themselves apart and weaken the juncture. Reducing the crown size buys some time but doesn't correct the base problem of overcrowding at the trunnk. Thinning at the trunk is probably the better fix.

Tristan,
I wish I knew the answer to your questions. I do not know the "right" way to control the size of a Bradford Pear. I only know that what they did worked out very well for me. If you look at a later post on this site dated 8/4/06, you'll see the AFTER pictures.

If I were you I would call another company and explain to them what you would like done. If they tell you that it can be done, then I would take that back to the arborist who did your tree.

Even though something 'can' be done (as it obviously was in my case), it may not be the best thing for the tree. That may be what your arborist is referring to.

Let me know how it works out.

Abby

I contracted a reputable company to trim my Bradford and for $255 all I got was about 20, 1/2" branches trimmed out. the tree did not reduce in size at all. It is getting too big for the yard it is in and I was hoping to reduce its size by 6-8' overall. The excuse give by the arborist was that he could not simply "top" or shape the tree as I wanted. I have not paid him yet......should I? What is the correct way to control the size of a Bradford Pear?

We planted a bradford pear 3 years age and have loved having in our yard. Up to this point it was the perfect tree. Full, lovely shape and amazing blossoms and late fall color. The top is huge and caught a stiff wind. My beautiful tree is tipped at a about a 60 degree angle. I have explored different options to correct the problem and either way it will be a $500.00 expense.

Thanks Randy! It is nice not to worry about coming home after a storm only to find a tree in the driveway. Or worse off, on the house.