Cleveland vs. Bradford Pear?
livelsberger
14 years ago
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Comments (112)
brandon7 TN_zone7
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoToronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agoRelated Discussions
Would you plant a Cleveland Pear tree?
Comments (25)I wouldn't plant one of the Callery pears, if for no other reason than there are already a zillion of them planted EVERYWHERE around here. It's very obvious because they are in full bloom right now, along with the Forsythia (2 zillion) and those poofy purple azaleas. Thank god there are some nice Magnolias, Redbud, and some early fruit trees blooming otherwise it would get very repetitive....See MoreCleveland Pear Question
Comments (7)Cleveland Pears are considerably stronger, with far less branch failure than Bradford pears. In the Fortworth, TX area I see lots of Cleveland Pear trees which are quite mature and do not show signs of having branch failure. FW gets just as windy weather as OK can get. So, I would not be overly concerned about keeping your tree. I do not know if the flowers of the Clevelands stink like the odor I have been disgusted with, when walking a few feet downwind of a blooming Bradford. The Cleveland canopies spread quite wide at maturity, so to plant trees around it for providing shelter to benefit the Cleveland, your yard would need to be quite large. On the other hand though planting other trees near the Cleveland would provide competition for your Cleveland and could cause the ornamental tree's canopy to spred considerably less. Not too much different like when you see trees that compete with each other in the forest. If the Cleveland pear you purchased was a potted one, then digging it up and repotting it, now when it is leafed out, might kill it. So I do not think it will be very honest to take it back to the nursery, when it has such a slim chance of living very long after the transplant. If you purchased it as a B&B tree then it should survive the digging up and potting of it to take back and request a refund or exchange. Just make certain to keep the B&B rootball properly watered. The easiest way to do that is to get a pot size that is larger than the B&B rootball, fill the bottom of the pot with several inches of potting soil, insert the tree and fill potting soil around the rootball enough to fill the pot. Then water with at least five gallons of water every day until you return the tree to the nursery. If the pear tree you first planted was an old cultivar Bradford, yes, I would complain to the Nursery about selling such a poor quality tree cultivar, and you most likely would be reasonable to ask for a refund or a replacement tree. Last I heard is that Cleveland and Aristocrat ornamental pear cultivars are still locally considered acceptable to sell and plant in OK. If that is true, there is a good chance the nursery will not refund your money or exchange the tree. If your Cleveland pear started out as a potted tree, and if you dig it up and repot it; the nursery could possibly not take it back. If that happens you will very likely be left with a dead or dying tree on your hands. Just like it is easy to find a nursery, which still sells soft wood or hard but brittle wood trees, which display a risk for branch failure, because people will buy such a fast growing tree much quicker than they will purchase a moderate or slow growing, quality hard wood tree; it is still easy to find a nursery which sells Bradford pears. It is even more likely to find a nursery which sells the Cleveland and Aristocrat pears. Recently, I even saw a website offering a supposedly improved Bradford pear cultivar that was reported to not suffer from the branch failure problems seen in the old Bradford pear cultivars. Bottom line, it is not the fault of a nursery, if a customer chooses to purchase a soft wood tree which can suffer branch failure. Unless the nursery has mislead the customer by insisting that a potentially weak tree is a strong tree which will not cause problems, I consider it the customers responsibility to research the facts about a tree before purchasing it and for sure before planting it in on their property. Is it really the fault of the nursery, if the customer plants one of their trees, and later concludes that tree was not what they really wanted? Like I said above, Maybe the change of mind and return would be reasonable if the recently purchased tree is returned before it was taken out of the pot, and if it was kept watered properly until the potted tree was exhanged at the Nursery....See MoreKousa Dogwood, Cleveland or Bradford Pear ?
Comments (11)The main reason kousas are recommended over cornus florida is because they are less prone to disease. Dogwoods are a bit problematic. It always seems to be something with them. I don't think kousas look "great" in full sun. As for why pears are a bad idea, here are some reasons why. 1.) They are environmentally unfriendly as they are an invasive species that are taking over native forest including dogwoods (especially dogwoods!) and choking them out with thickets. 2.) They are weak wooded and have narrow crotch angles and break apart in storms. But they will get very big first creating an expensive tree surgeon service call. 2.5) They are short lived. 3.) The blooms smell bad. 4.) The blooms are short. 5.) The leaves drop very late in the season requiring second cleanup. 6.) Surface roots. Big ones. And they are numerous. 7.) Dense shade = no turf, moss, possibly unwanted perennial moisture, shrooms etc. 8.) The people that still grow these don't deserve one red cent. 9.) Partridges 10.) McFlora... yawn. Serviceberrys , crab apples, red maple and cherries are commonly suggested for full sun sites where flowering trees are desired as substitutes for callery pears. None of those are perfect either the small flowering trees in general are not the longest lived in the bunch but anything is better than a 40 foot tree that was planted 5 years prior that literally explodes in a seemingly innocent storm and lands on property or persons requiring thousands in cleanup or insurance deductibles, wrongful death lawsuits etc....See MoreCleveland Pears...need information help!
Comments (23)Sorry I haven't been back... It looks like one tree may have been planted. I talked to most of the HOA Board Members (of which I am also a Board member) and they, unfortunately, have the attitude of "so what?" They also say: * we already have lots of pear trees in the neighborhood so what's a few more? * whatever we do won't matter so why bother worrying about it * if the nurseries still sell them they must not be that bad * we already have so many other invasive plants [canada thistle, multaflora rose, & tree of heaven] what's one more? Both Howard County and the MD Dept of Natural Resources have asked that we not plant them but the response I got on that one is "if they aren't stopping the nurseries from selling them then it must not be that important or that much of a problem" VERY frustrating...I tried explaining about being "environmentally responsible" and how if everyone has that attitude then they're right, nothing will help; but if we start by taking a stand and doing something about it then we can make a difference... *sigh* I tried. It looks like we have a long way to go here in Maryland and, in particular, Western Howard County! Thanks for all your support!...See MoreBrandon Smith
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agojimbobfeeny
11 years agolast modified: 9 years agobrandon7 TN_zone7
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10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoBrandon Smith
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10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoDJ1975
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoDJ1975
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agobrandon7 TN_zone7
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoDzitmoidonc
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoToronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoBrandon Smith
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10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoBrandon Smith
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10 years agolast modified: 9 years agoToronado3800 Zone 6 St Louis
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