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#1
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Bradford pears. Planted last fall. Brown leaves. Any suggestions?
Greetings.
Basically, I have 3 Bradford Pears what were planted when my house was built, back in September last year. They are about 8 foot tall, small diameter trees. The leaves are turning brown and curling... I was told by the contractor that as long as the grass is green, then the trees should be recieving enough water. In the spring, I also put tree fertilizer plugs into the ground... Should I water more around the base of the trees? Is it some sort of disease or insect infestation? Are they too far gone at this point? While I have your attention, may I also ask: if these trees die, what would be a good, hardy, low water tree for this area, and how much should a young tree like the ones above cost? Thanks for your time. |
#2
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Bradford pears. Planted last fall. Brown leaves. Any suggestions?
"Gourd" wrote in message
ink.net... : Greetings. : : Basically, I have 3 Bradford Pears what were planted when my house was : built, back in September last year. They are about 8 foot tall, small : diameter trees. : : The leaves are turning brown and curling... : : I was told by the contractor that as long as the grass is green, then the : trees should be recieving enough water. In the spring, I also put tree : fertilizer plugs into the ground... : : Should I water more around the base of the trees? Is it some sort of : disease or insect infestation? Are they too far gone at this point? : : While I have your attention, may I also ask: if these trees die, what would : be a good, hardy, low water tree for this area, and how much should a young : tree like the ones above cost? : : Thanks for your time. : : Grass can be green if the top few inches of dirt have water. Trees need deeper soaking, especially ones that haven't been in the ground that long. Get a soaker hose and spiral it around the tree starting a foot or so from the trunk and ending just outside the dripline. Turn the pressure on low - just sweating, no spray - and leave it on overnight. Repeat every couple of weeks, every week when it's this hot and dry. They'll probably be fine, but try a Pistache (sp?) next time. |
#3
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Bradford pears. Planted last fall. Brown leaves. Any suggestions?
Thank you considerably for your reply.
Just read up on Chinese Pistache and I REALLY like the way they look! Plus, to be quite honest, my wife hates the Bradford pears we have right now. I think I might just replace the 3 Bradford Pears with Chinese Pistache this fall. Thanks again. ----- Original Message ----- From: "groober" Newsgroups: austin.gardening Sent: Monday, August 04, 2003 6:48 PM Subject: Bradford pears. Planted last fall. Brown leaves. Any suggestions? Grass can be green if the top few inches of dirt have water. Trees need deeper soaking, especially ones that haven't been in the ground that long. Get a soaker hose and spiral it around the tree starting a foot or so from the trunk and ending just outside the dripline. Turn the pressure on low - just sweating, no spray - and leave it on overnight. Repeat every couple of weeks, every week when it's this hot and dry. They'll probably be fine, but try a Pistache (sp?) next time. |
#4
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Bradford pears. Planted last fall. Brown leaves. Any suggestions?
Bradford pears are very short lived ornamental trees which should not be used.
It's not your fault, they sell them at all the box stores, and are provided by builders (which I'm currently working on a presentation for native ONLY trees on residential property by builders). Anyway, there are some very wonderful trees. For example, why not plant a real fruit tree? Grow a peach tree. We have one in the ground for two years and it was a stick about three feet tall, now about 12 feet tall full of the most delicious peaches I ever tasted IN MY LIFE! We bought 'Dixieland' which is a very low chill hour tree, and blooms later to avoid possible frost to the blossoms. There are so many. Here is a wonderful website to look at for great listings of trees which will provide many years of pleasure. http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/o...scientific.htm Keep in mind that regardless what sort of tree, native or not, these newly planted trees will absolutely have to be watered very well the first few years till they establish a good root system. Also find out what type of soil you have, how deep it is, are there rocks, caliche, or is it clay, dark or red clay. There are many factors involved. For the most part, trees come in several sizes. The more rare they are in the nursery trade, the higher the price. You can buy nice sized redbud trees for 40 dollars. They grow fast, flower beautifully and are very drought tolerant "AFTER ESTABLISHED." The person who said the grass is green, the tree is watered enough obviously knows nothing. Forget all that nonsense! Try to buy trees which are for this region of Texas. Spend the extra money on specific species of trees. Go to the better garden centers like The Natural Gardener, Barton Springs Garden Center...see what they have. If you then want to check for better prices, go to Lowes or Home Depot, but beware, end of summer is not a good time to buy trees which have been stressed out, un-watered, fallen over a billion times in wind, etc. I like flame leaf sumac, Mexican plum, lacey oak, redbuds, texas pistasche (Chinese is a good tree as well, just not native). Many different varieties and shapes of trees. Best of luck to you. Fall is the absolutely best time to plant any and everything. Victoria On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 21:40:54 GMT, "Gourd" wrote: Greetings. Basically, I have 3 Bradford Pears what were planted when my house was built, back in September last year. They are about 8 foot tall, small diameter trees. The leaves are turning brown and curling... I was told by the contractor that as long as the grass is green, then the trees should be recieving enough water. In the spring, I also put tree fertilizer plugs into the ground... Should I water more around the base of the trees? Is it some sort of disease or insect infestation? Are they too far gone at this point? While I have your attention, may I also ask: if these trees die, what would be a good, hardy, low water tree for this area, and how much should a young tree like the ones above cost? Thanks for your time. |
#5
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Bradford pears. Planted last fall. Brown leaves. Any suggestions?
I have two young pear trees that are doing very well. I'm trying to recall
the variety...something like Pfannstiel Pear. Doing great....except some bugs like to chew the leaves, but Neem takes care of that. "animaux" wrote in message ... Bradford pears are very short lived ornamental trees which should not be used. It's not your fault, they sell them at all the box stores, and are provided by builders (which I'm currently working on a presentation for native ONLY trees on residential property by builders). Anyway, there are some very wonderful trees. For example, why not plant a real fruit tree? Grow a peach tree. We have one in the ground for two years and it was a stick about three feet tall, now about 12 feet tall full of the most delicious peaches I ever tasted IN MY LIFE! We bought 'Dixieland' which is a very low chill hour tree, and blooms later to avoid possible frost to the blossoms. There are so many. Here is a wonderful website to look at for great listings of trees which will provide many years of pleasure. http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/o...scientific.htm Keep in mind that regardless what sort of tree, native or not, these newly planted trees will absolutely have to be watered very well the first few years till they establish a good root system. Also find out what type of soil you have, how deep it is, are there rocks, caliche, or is it clay, dark or red clay. There are many factors involved. For the most part, trees come in several sizes. The more rare they are in the nursery trade, the higher the price. You can buy nice sized redbud trees for 40 dollars. They grow fast, flower beautifully and are very drought tolerant "AFTER ESTABLISHED." The person who said the grass is green, the tree is watered enough obviously knows nothing. Forget all that nonsense! Try to buy trees which are for this region of Texas. Spend the extra money on specific species of trees. Go to the better garden centers like The Natural Gardener, Barton Springs Garden Center...see what they have. If you then want to check for better prices, go to Lowes or Home Depot, but beware, end of summer is not a good time to buy trees which have been stressed out, un-watered, fallen over a billion times in wind, etc. I like flame leaf sumac, Mexican plum, lacey oak, redbuds, texas pistasche (Chinese is a good tree as well, just not native). Many different varieties and shapes of trees. Best of luck to you. Fall is the absolutely best time to plant any and everything. Victoria On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 21:40:54 GMT, "Gourd" wrote: Greetings. Basically, I have 3 Bradford Pears what were planted when my house was built, back in September last year. They are about 8 foot tall, small diameter trees. The leaves are turning brown and curling... I was told by the contractor that as long as the grass is green, then the trees should be recieving enough water. In the spring, I also put tree fertilizer plugs into the ground... Should I water more around the base of the trees? Is it some sort of disease or insect infestation? Are they too far gone at this point? While I have your attention, may I also ask: if these trees die, what would be a good, hardy, low water tree for this area, and how much should a young tree like the ones above cost? Thanks for your time. |
#6
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Bradford pears. Planted last fall. Brown leaves. Any suggestions?
Hi there. Victoria's reply to you (great reply, Vicky) was a very good
one with many great points. She points out some goo psd native tree choices. Bradford Pears are not native to your area. You cannot go wrong with planting native trees and you won't regret the decision to do so. And your neighbors will ask what kind of tree is that? "The kind that is supposed to grow here". She refers to Benny Simpson's Native Tree Site (Benny was co-founder of the Native Plant Society of Texas) and its a great site: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/o...scientific.ht= m Also, there is a native shrub site: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/o...indexcommon.h= tm You have several Naive Plant Society chapters near you: http://www.npsot.org/chapters/chapters.html Their meetings are open to the public and you can get some great info from them and find sources to buy native trees. I don't know about the Hill Country chapters but our Chapter has an annual seed swap in November. Last year I colleted over 20 varities of native seeds. Investing in a tree requires great research and planting a native is the best way to go. = (good, hardy, low water trees) Good luck on your journey and fall is the time to plant it. J. Kolenovsky VP, Houston chapter, NPSOT http://www.celestialhabitats.com ps - native trees are addicting once you get into this. You'll enjoy nature more. Gourd wrote: = Greetings. = Basically, I have 3 Bradford Pears what were planted when my house was built, back in September last year. They are about 8 foot tall, small diameter trees. = The leaves are turning brown and curling... = I was told by the contractor that as long as the grass is green, then t= he trees should be recieving enough water. In the spring, I also put tree= fertilizer plugs into the ground... = Should I water more around the base of the trees? Is it some sort of disease or insect infestation? Are they too far gone at this point? = While I have your attention, may I also ask: if these trees die, what w= ould be a good, hardy, low water tree for this area, and how much should a y= oung tree like the ones above cost? = Thanks for your time. -- = J. Kolenovsky, A+, Network +, MCP =F4=BF=F4 - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business =F4=BF=F4 - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal |
#7
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Bradford pears. Planted last fall. Brown leaves. Any suggestions?
Thanks everyone.
I'm definately going to bookmark all of the resources that have been pointed out to me. Basically I'm going to try to keep these 3 alive until the fall, then replace them one at a time over the next few years. (my budget is a little tight at the moment) Thank you considerably! "J Kolenovsky" wrote in message ... Hi there. Victoria's reply to you (great reply, Vicky) was a very good one with many great points. She points out some goo psd native tree choices. Bradford Pears are not native to your area. You cannot go wrong with planting native trees and you won't regret the decision to do so. And your neighbors will ask what kind of tree is that? "The kind that is supposed to grow here". She refers to Benny Simpson's Native Tree Site (Benny was co-founder of the Native Plant Society of Texas) and its a great site: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/o...scientific.htm Also, there is a native shrub site: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/o...ndexcommon.htm You have several Naive Plant Society chapters near you: http://www.npsot.org/chapters/chapters.html Their meetings are open to the public and you can get some great info from them and find sources to buy native trees. I don't know about the Hill Country chapters but our Chapter has an annual seed swap in November. Last year I colleted over 20 varities of native seeds. Investing in a tree requires great research and planting a native is the best way to go. (good, hardy, low water trees) Good luck on your journey and fall is the time to plant it. J. Kolenovsky VP, Houston chapter, NPSOT http://www.celestialhabitats.com ps - native trees are addicting once you get into this. You'll enjoy nature more. Gourd wrote: Greetings. Basically, I have 3 Bradford Pears what were planted when my house was built, back in September last year. They are about 8 foot tall, small diameter trees. The leaves are turning brown and curling... I was told by the contractor that as long as the grass is green, then the trees should be recieving enough water. In the spring, I also put tree fertilizer plugs into the ground... Should I water more around the base of the trees? Is it some sort of disease or insect infestation? Are they too far gone at this point? While I have your attention, may I also ask: if these trees die, what would be a good, hardy, low water tree for this area, and how much should a young tree like the ones above cost? Thanks for your time. -- J. Kolenovsky, A+, Network +, MCP τΏτ - http://www.celestialhabitats.com - business τΏτ - http://www.hal-pc.org/~garden/personal.html - personal |
#8
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Bradford pears. Planted last fall. Brown leaves. Any suggestions?
One thing you can do is water the trees with the cheapest of all sprinklers.
One of those little two dollar round yellow things, with the holes on top. Nice large drops come down and soak in rather than evaporating into hot air. Don't water when it's windy to cut down on water loss, and try to get the ground a little wet before a rain is expected. That will break the surface tension and allow more water to leach down. Never let the soil completely dry out and water out by the drip line of the tree, no closer to the trunk than about two feet. If you don't now have it, dig away the grass and put mulch on the soil where the tree is. Invest five dollars and buy a gallon of aerated compost tea at The Natural Gardener and use it according to their instructions. You can also buy a few bags of Revitilizer compost while you are there for about 6 dollars. Make some ragged holes around the drip line of the tree with a garden fork, really jag up the soil, water it, put the compost down, mulch, water again. Who knows, you may be able to get several years out of the trees which will allow you to buy much smaller native species and get them in the ground this fall. By the time you see too much damage on the pear trees, you will have a few years jump on the native species and you can cut the ornamental pears down. Victoria On Thu, 07 Aug 2003 20:41:20 GMT, "Gourd" wrote: Thanks everyone. I'm definately going to bookmark all of the resources that have been pointed out to me. Basically I'm going to try to keep these 3 alive until the fall, then replace them one at a time over the next few years. (my budget is a little tight at the moment) Thank you considerably! "J Kolenovsky" wrote in message ... Hi there. Victoria's reply to you (great reply, Vicky) was a very good one with many great points. She points out some goo psd native tree choices. Bradford Pears are not native to your area. You cannot go wrong with planting native trees and you won't regret the decision to do so. And your neighbors will ask what kind of tree is that? "The kind that is supposed to grow here". She refers to Benny Simpson's Native Tree Site (Benny was co-founder of the Native Plant Society of Texas) and its a great site: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/o...scientific.htm Also, there is a native shrub site: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/o...ndexcommon.htm You have several Naive Plant Society chapters near you: http://www.npsot.org/chapters/chapters.html Their meetings are open to the public and you can get some great info from them and find sources to buy native trees. I don't know about the Hill Country chapters but our Chapter has an annual seed swap in November. Last year I colleted over 20 varities of native seeds. Investing in a tree requires great research and planting a native is the best way to go. (good, hardy, low water trees) Good luck on your journey and fall is the time to plant it. J. Kolenovsky VP, Houston chapter, NPSOT http://www.celestialhabitats.com ps - native trees are addicting once you get into this. You'll enjoy nature more. Gourd wrote: Greetings. Basically, I have 3 Bradford Pears what were planted when my house was built, back in September last year. They are about 8 foot tall, small diameter trees. The leaves are turning brown and curling... I was told by the contractor that as long as the grass is green, then the trees should be recieving enough water. In the spring, I also put tree fertilizer plugs into the ground... Should I water more around the base of the trees? Is it some sort of disease or insect infestation? Are they too far gone at this point? While I have your attention, may I also ask: if these trees die, what would be a good, hardy, low water tree for this area, and how much should a young tree like the ones above cost? Thanks for your time. |
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