Jack Anderson wrote:
The seeds from bradford pears are spread by birds and produce very hardy,
thorny, non-native pest trees that take root virtually anywhere, crowding
out native species and creating problems for anyone who owns and maintanes
property. Planting a Bradford pear is a most irresponsible act. They are an
even bigger horticultural scam tree than the silver maple or the mimosa.

Interesting - what's wrong with a silver maple? My Grandmother has
two huge ones that are now about 90 years old, planted by my
grandfather and his father when he was about 5 years old. Those two
trees are some of my favorite old giants, especially with the family
connection. She recently had them "groomed" by an arborist who
cleaned out a lot of the deadwood and hopefully they'll go on for
awhile yet.




--
Brent Harsh - KD4PBO /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign: Say
bharsh at ncroadrunner \ / NO to HTML in email and news.
------------------------X-------------------------------
Cary, NC, USA / \ Read my mail with fixed fonts.