ken_adrian wrote: "i am wondering of this is an invasive callery pear ..." What is a callery pear? "no where is it stated it was a fruit bearing plant ..." It did bear fruit. "and being self sown under a power line.. sure brings a birds butt into thought ..." I don't know whether it was self-sown--I just know it's probably at least 50 years old. "second.. that is the utility easement that it is planted in .. the utility has every right to clear the lines ... that is why it is called an easement ... it on your mortgage documents ..." Can you please tell me why, for the past 35 years, they never had a problem with the tree, and in fact never even attempted to trim it? "all trees.. continue to grow upwards.. they only stop growing up.. when they die" Are you saying that no fruit tree has a maximum height? "... to say it was 50 feet.." Huh? Who said that? "and not going to grow any higher... is not consistent with how trees grow ..." In the past 35 years, it hasn't grown much taller. So, if it was getting taller, it was doing so very slowly, and the tree was not even close to reaching the power lines. "if you lived in snow country ... where a 2 or 3 day power loss in winter is possible .. when its zero outside ... you would not be happy.. if the utility did not proper clear lines to insure power .. especially if its an ice storm ... we kinda have a different view up here in MI ... about proper maintenance of utilities ..." If a tree is a genuine threat to the power lines, I can understand. But if this tree was such a "threat," then why did the power company completely ignore it for 35 years? "as far as i am concerned.. the only thing they did wrong.. was not kill the stump ..." Heh heh. I'm glad they didn't. ;) Besides, they seem way too lazy to do a thorough job anyway. They cut a bunch of branches, left them lying all over the place, and then didn't bother to clean anything up until we nagged them, and they did a good bit of littering as well.

What I do when I have multiple rooted cuttings in one pot is turn the pot upside down and put the whole mass ( less the pot) on a grate ( do this outside, of course). Then gently run water over the mass with a garden hose until all of the soil has washed away and all that is left is the tangled mess of rooted cuttings. Now you can easily separate the cuttings, being as gentle as you can. Repot the cuttings. New leaves might go into shock and fall off but all cuttings will come back. Actually, I did three containers of cuttings this way about a month ago (each had about 6 or 7 heavily rooted cuttings )and all of the young leaves stayed in tact and all plants are doing just fine.

Generally no runoff or leaching issues with Roundup, but if you're right on a wetland or in a riparian zone then you might want to consider using the aquatic formulations but you'd need a commercial applicator's license to buy those. It's not the Roundup itself but the surfactants that run off and get into water bodies. The aquatic formulations are used for controlling things like purple loosestrife and yellow flag iris and they have different surfactants. Cutting off the flowers will reduce the amount of seeds produced but may not reduce the seedling population. Two things to consider: A, the plant will try to re-flower unless you cut it just as seeds are setting, and maybe even then. B, most plants produce way more seeds than will be able to germinate and turn into seedlings. Reducing the number of seeds set won't necessarily reduce the number that germinate and turn into seedlings. You'd have to get nearly all the potential seed to significantly reduce the number of seedlings. But it's worth trying, definitely. Just maybe not right now, it may be better to wait a little longer so the plants have less time to put out new flowers.

Your long time to get to where it is probably has more to do with fertilizing, sun and soil mix. Once a plant begins flowering, it usually will flower every year thereafter. Usually means most but you can have that one that interrupts for a year often due to some form of shock (frost, soil change, unusual weather patterns, etc.) I also notice that the plants older than 6 years are very consistant although they may flower less than usual (my larger, older plants damaged in the big freeze of 07 flowered less in 08). Search posts on fertilizing and soil mixes and check your set-up. I recently had a friend of my wife ask me to look at a plant she had for years that was about 20" tall and looking frail. I repotted it in better soil, fertilized it and gave it additives (sulphur, magnesium, microfungi, etc.) In two months it grew double in height with large leaves and many flowers. She thought I gave her the wrong plant back. The plant was malnourished and living in a poor environment.