The local MacDonald's has Bradford pears planted all around
it for decoration and they all bloomed last fall and set fruit and then
it all dropped. Made the owner mad with all that fruit on the ground,
making a mess, so he had them all cut down.

The Bradford was the ornamental tree of the future, developed just a
few miles south of here. It was supposedly disease/insect resistant,
no messy fruit, nice compact shape ...

However, as time has gone by, residents here have found that it is for
the most part brittle in wind.

Jack W wrote:

The local MacDonald's has Bradford pears planted all around
it for decoration and they all bloomed last fall and set fruit and then
it all dropped. Made the owner mad with all that fruit on the ground,
making a mess, so he had them all cut down.


The Bradford was the ornamental tree of the future, developed just a
few miles south of here. It was supposedly disease/insect resistant,
no messy fruit, nice compact shape ...

However, as time has gone by, residents here have found that it is for
the most part brittle in wind.

That's why we don't have any. We often get winds up to 50 mph and the
Bradfords generally just snap off. Same with the ornamental plums people
plant around here. Got enough trouble with the pine trees snapping off
about 40 feet up and falling during hurricanes. Even oaks are brittle
around here, no tap roots. Only trees that didn't blow over during Rita
were those useless sweet gums.

George

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 15:50:47 -0500, George Shirley
wrote:

Jack W wrote:

The local MacDonald's has Bradford pears planted all around
it for decoration and they all bloomed last fall and set fruit and then
it all dropped. Made the owner mad with all that fruit on the ground,
making a mess, so he had them all cut down.


The Bradford was the ornamental tree of the future, developed just a
few miles south of here. It was supposedly disease/insect resistant,
no messy fruit, nice compact shape ...

However, as time has gone by, residents here have found that it is for
the most part brittle in wind.

That's why we don't have any. We often get winds up to 50 mph and the
Bradfords generally just snap off. Same with the ornamental plums people
plant around here. Got enough trouble with the pine trees snapping off
about 40 feet up and falling during hurricanes. Even oaks are brittle
around here, no tap roots. Only trees that didn't blow over during Rita
were those useless sweet gums.

George

I dislike the Bradford pear trees and that tree is the most popular
tree planted in my town. They grow fast, spread, and easily break
during storms. In bloom they look nice from a distance but the odor
is horrible. I have a 60-foot sweet gum tree next to my house--gives
shade, stops erosion, very strong, and virtually disease free. The
"sweet gum balls" can be annoying because their are thousands of them,
but I use the prickly balls in the flowerbeds on top of the
mulch--cats avoid my flower beds!

On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 15:50:47 -0500, George Shirley
wrote:


That's why we don't have any. We often get winds up to 50 mph and the
Bradfords generally just snap off. Same with the ornamental plums people
plant around here. Got enough trouble with the pine trees snapping off
about 40 feet up and falling during hurricanes. Even oaks are brittle
around here, no tap roots. Only trees that didn't blow over during Rita
were those useless sweet gums.

George
HMM, a tree that survives where no other can . . . sounds pretty
useful to me!

k

Treedweller wrote:
On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 15:50:47 -0500, George Shirley
wrote:


That's why we don't have any. We often get winds up to 50 mph and the
Bradfords generally just snap off. Same with the ornamental plums people
plant around here. Got enough trouble with the pine trees snapping off
about 40 feet up and falling during hurricanes. Even oaks are brittle
around here, no tap roots. Only trees that didn't blow over during Rita
were those useless sweet gums.

George

HMM, a tree that survives where no other can . . . sounds pretty
useful to me!

k

They don't blow over because they have tap roots that go to hell. They
don't break because there is no grain to the wood, it's all twisted up
inside, they're a pain in your yard because of the gum balls (seed pods)
they drop. Some are big as a golf ball and they've got little spikes all
over them. If there was an infertile sweet gum I would agree with you
that they would be a good tree to have.

George

On Wed, 26 Jul 2006 13:03:21 -0500, George Shirley
wrote:

Treedweller wrote:
On Sat, 22 Jul 2006 15:50:47 -0500, George Shirley
wrote:


That's why we don't have any. We often get winds up to 50 mph and the
Bradfords generally just snap off. Same with the ornamental plums people
plant around here. Got enough trouble with the pine trees snapping off
about 40 feet up and falling during hurricanes. Even oaks are brittle
around here, no tap roots. Only trees that didn't blow over during Rita
were those useless sweet gums.

George

HMM, a tree that survives where no other can . . . sounds pretty
useful to me!

k

They don't blow over because they have tap roots that go to hell. They
don't break because there is no grain to the wood, it's all twisted up
inside, they're a pain in your yard because of the gum balls (seed pods)
they drop. Some are big as a golf ball and they've got little spikes all
over them. If there was an infertile sweet gum I would agree with you
that they would be a good tree to have.

George
In a suburban lawn, it is rare that trees are harvested for lumber.
They are generally planted for shade (i.e., reduced energy costs in
summer) and for beauty. Incidentally, they also mitgate storm runoff,
saving cities money that they would spend on maintaining storm drains
and processing said water. They shade lawns, reducing need/costs of
irrigation (and water is going to be worth gold in coming years). Not
to mention the esoteric benefits of happier communities and reduced
stress in neighborhoods where trees are growing.

I don't really care why they survive; they are valuable assets to our
community and our environment. Your fixation on the inconvenience of
a few spiky balls is not a reason to call these trees useless. Maybe
you should look for a local scout troop. You might convince them to
come pick up the balls for you; they could probably come up with a
nice craft project that would put them to good use.

k