A Tree That Was Once the Suburban Ideal Has Morphed Into an Unstoppable Villain

[Demovictory9]

A Tree That Was Once the Suburban Ideal Has Morphed Into an Unstoppable Villain
The Bradford pear, hugely popular when suburbs were developed, contributed to an invasion of trees conquering nearly anywhere it lands. South Carolina is stepping up its fight against
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But when David Coyle, a professor of forest health at Clemson University, pulled over in his pickup, he could see the monster those trees had spawned: a forbidding jungle that had consumed an open lot nearby, where the same white flowers were blooming uncontrollably in a thicket of tangled branches studded with thorns.

“When this tree gets growing somewhere, it does not take long to take over the whole thing,” Professor Coyle, an invasive species expert, said. “It just wipes everything out underneath it.”

Beginning in the 1960s, as suburbs sprouted across the South, clearing land for labyrinths of cul-de-sacs and two-car garages, Bradford pears were the trees of choice. They were easily available, could thrive in almost any soil and had an appealing shape with mahogany-red leaves that lingered deep into the fall and flowers that appeared early in the spring.

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But the most far-reaching consequence emerged as pear trees began colonizing open fields, farmland, river banks and ditches, and rising between the pines along the highways from Georgia up through the Carolinas, edging out native species and upending ecosystems. The trees grow rapidly, climbing to as high as 15 feet within a decade. (They can ultimately reach 50 feet high and 30 feet wide.)

“You can’t miss it,” said Tim Rogers, the general manager of a company that sells plants and supplies to landscaping companies. “It’s everywhere.”



https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/26/us/bradford-pear-tree-south-carolina.html

[KS Toronado]

1. Thought this world needed more trees to combat climate change?

They offset our fossil fuel use by soaking up carbon I believe? Correct me if I'm a little off base.

[NickB79]

5. Native species do a better job of sequestering carbon

Because they facilitate a diverse ecosystem and support more biomass overall.

Invasives like this create a monocrop, where it's just bare underneath the canopy. I spent my teen years clearing 30 acres of oak and sugar maple woods on the farm from Tatarian honeysuckle and buckthorn. It was hard, but rewarding, work, especially when the native wildflowers began to regenerate and the songbird population rose.

[KS Toronado]

23. Thanks for the info.

Guess we need trees alright, just not Invasive ones.

[MuseRider]

32. Japanese Honeysuckle

has taken over my wooded areas. I cannot seem to get it to stop. Buckthorn was becoming a problem, still is to a point but not as bad as before because the Honeysuckle is crowding everything else out. We are all fighting it here but it seems to be a losing battle. I am afraid I have seen my last successful year of morel hunting. I plan on spending a lot of winter time chopping out as much as I can, using a spray paint to mark it for specific targeting in the spring once it begins to grow. I wish I knew a better way but cutting it has not ever helped, it just grows right back.

[yagotme]

34. Cutting won't do it. Has to be pulled out by roots. n/t

[MuseRider]

38. Never going to happen here then.

I am too old and small to get that done. The stuff took over before I knew it and every farm and wooded area around here is full of it. That is sad to hear. The best I can do then is to pick an area and try to keep it cut down for a while so I can move on to another area and cut and just try to control the growth and seeding. I am sorry to hear this.

I will call the extension office, they are very good at the noxious weed department about advising. I was only doing what everyone else out here was doing. Perhaps between this and all the other invasive plants that are finding their way here something can be done. At least if I get my name on their list as someone dealing with this they will let me know if anything new has come along to help with the problem. In one summer it took over at least 10 acres of my wooded areas. It is taller than I am. This year with the warm fall it has actually flowered again and I am assuming if it does not freeze hard for at least a few solid days it will reseed some more.

[yagotme]

44. That really sucks.

Got kudzu in my yard a few years ago, stuff just won't go away. Pulled, used chemicals, it just keeps spreading.

[I_UndergroundPanther]

70. When I had my house

I had some mulberry trees (I love mulberries)

And a beautiful high fruit producing mulberry in my front yard was attacked by a kudzu plant.

I pulled out all the vines it was exhausting. Than I found where the root of the vine was. It was right next to the tree.I dug and dug until I had dug out the entire root of the kudzu.


Than I burned it in my firepit. Cursed all kudzu to die if it comes near my yard. It never grew back and I never had another kudzu in my yard after that thankfully.

All my milkweeds and poke and other native plants were again safe.

Kudzu sucks. I wasen't about to let that damn vine kill off my delicious white mulberry tree.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

72. Congrats.

Hard work like that doesn't always solve a garden problem. Glad to hear yours was successful.

[yagotme]

73. My problem is multiple growths throughout the yard,

Sometimes I think the easiest solution will be to move.

[NickB79]

51. You absolutely need to use herbicides on the cut stumps in fall

Roundup, 20% or higher, applied to the stump with a spray bottle immediately after cutting. Applied in fall, it's drawn down to the roots.

There are no non-chemical means to clear large areas.

[MuseRider]

61. In the fall!

That is good to know. We have to use glyphosate but we use it just like this. From a small bottle directly on to the offending, invasive plant.

[KS Toronado]

68. I got rid of a bunch of Honeysuckle once

Cut it off close to the ground, used a flat wood spade drill bit in a cordless drill to drill a hole in what's left of
the root. Hardware store had product called "root rot" might be different name today, poured the powder in
drilled hole and watered it. In about 6 months the wood just crumbles. If at all possible stay away from
using Roundup, too many health problems associated with it.

[Demsrule86]

49. Sorry not true...species like the pear tree do help with the environment just as well as a native

species...maybe more because the propigate.

[NickB79]

50. Not even close

All native species propagate. My yard would be peppered with walnuts if I let it go a year or two. Seriously, have you walked an infestation? It's a monocrop. No native flowers. No native tree seedlings. Just acres of one species.

It's an ecological desert.

[Botany]

8. Your are off base. Non native invasive plants really hurt our biodiversity, the supportive capacity

.... of our ecosystem, and are hammers to native pollinators, native birds, and all kinds of critters.

An oak tree will support >200 native insects where as a pear MIGHT support 3 native insects and insects
are "the little engines that run the world."*


* E.O. Wilson

BTW Trees do grow and capture CO2 but when they fall and the wood rots it releases CO2 back into the
atmosphere.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/27/magazine/insect-apocalypse.html

[ms liberty]

14. Bradford Pears are not what we need. There are plenty of native trees that

Aren't invasive, don't stink when they bloom, or split and/or fall if you look at them wrong. Seriously, They're a waste of time and money.

[Amishman]

18. agreed, can't stand bradfords.

nasty brittle stench trees, cut 'em all down.

[Klaralven]

2. Humans, like other animals, disperse seeds and cuttings of plants, etc.

Just think of it as part of the natural evolution of the ecosystem.

A plot of land near here that has been let to "be natural" is about 50% invasive species.

Among the trees are black locust, Norway maple, ailanthus, etc.

[luvtheGWN]

27. And when trees are under threat, they have ways to

keep going. Case in point: Ash trees. When the emerald ash borer threatened the ash trees here in Niagara, they threw off seeds which found their way into everyone's yards and even the vineyards.

I had to hire a landscaper to come and dig up these wanna-be trees, and then spread a (name removed and also forbidden here) solution to completely kill them. Missed one and now it's 14 ft tall!

If there's a plant you love that isn't doing well, just threaten its life and cut it way back, and next spring it will grow again!

[luvs2sing]

3. They are evil.

My ex was a landscaper, and he put a ton of those things in during the 80s. I was very happy when the city took out the ones near us last summer. No more living on Claritin every spring when those stinky flowers are out.

[leftyladyfrommo]

4. And they break really easy. nt

[peggysue2]

6. Yes. They tend to split very easily once they grow large

I had a 20 ft Bradford in my backyard. Had her trimmed and topped several times. Every landscaper who came on the property advised me to cut her down. Just didn't have the heart to whack a healthy tree.

As for the new owner of the property? Braddie's days may be numbered.

[radical noodle]

16. They do and sometimes after the main trunk breaks

they become Bradford Pear bushes. They were everywhere in Indiana.

[GoCubsGo]

55. This reminds me of the guy who used to live across the street from me who removed all the pine trees

On his property, claiming that they were "weeds with weak wood." I laughed when he said that, because he had several Bradford pears in his front yard that he left alone. A subsequent owner had to remove them, because of the "they break easily thing."

[LeftInTX]

7. Don't buy Bradford Pears, but there are worse!

Japanese Ligustrum and Tree of Heaven are worse.
Ligustrum produces seeds almost year round.

There are regional invasive trees

Check out invasive.org

Chinaberries are bad in the South.

[Botany]

13. All Callery Pears are bad. Bradfords were sold as sterile but they produce viable seed when ...

... crossed with another Callery Pear such as an Aristocrat Pear.

[radical noodle]

17. Mimosa trees too n/t

[Marcuse]

36. I didn't know that.

[LeftInTX]

58. No relation!

I was complaining about a Mimosa (tree) one time and the lady started yapping about the drink.

[GoCubsGo]

57. Bamboo, as well.

Once it takes hold, you need a bulldozer to get rid of it.

[llmart]

29. +1

Don't forget Norway maples. Developers like to put them in and homeowners don't do their research before they plant a tree.

Norway maples belong in Norway. If you want a maple, plant a native species if, and only if, you have the space.

[LeftInTX]

35. Norway Maples aren't a problem in Texas 🤣

They won't grow here, but every region has their own invasive species.

I doubt that Mexican Petunia is invasive up in Minnesota, but it is the spawn of Satan down here!

[GoCubsGo]

56. The idiots who built my house planted Ligustrum as a foundation plant.

On top of being invasive, they're a damn hedge plant. I tore them out. Been having to remove Nandina (Tree of Heaven) seedlings on a regular basis, too. Don't get me started on the damn Japanese honeysuckle...

[Bernardo de La Paz]

9. Don't South Carolina and the South have a kudzu problem?

[greymattermom]

11. Goats have helped with kudzu.

It's edible.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

12. Cool. Glad to hear it. . . . nt

[ms liberty]

15. Yes, we still have kudzu. It's a curse. n/t

[paleotn]

20. The entire south, but it's overrated....

If left alone, it will choke out nearly all other vegetation in acre after acre, but it's easily controlled through grazing. Goats and cattle adore it. The places you see choked with it are idle or abandoned land that's not been managed in decades. A pity it picked up such a bad reputation since it's a very useful plant if properly managed. Great for erosion control. A nitrogen fixing legume that's also a "miner" like comfrey, bringing up minerals from the deep sub soil.

When I lived in NC, I found chinese wisteria to be more insidious. Instead of just shading native vegetation, its woody vines cut into tree bark, girdling and killing trees. Nasty stuff.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

40. Cool. Thanks for the context! . . . nt

[VGNonly]

10. A rule of thumb

plant only trees that are native to your region.

[packman]

19. And he goes "Hmmm" - Aren't ANY trees invasive at one point???

Ecological evolution at work??

[paleotn]

22. If mom nature does it, sure....

but that's slower and biological controls usually follow along with the invaders. Usually, there's been contact for eons on range edges between invaders and invades, so it's not like dumping a completely alien species into the ecosystem. In natural processes, it's a complex web of interactions we barely understand instead of humans throwing around a few species willy nilly, damaging biodiversity.

[dalton99a]

21. Kick

[Siwsan]

24. There was a big one growing next to the veg garden when I moved to this house

It split during a wind storm. The wood is nearly impossible to split the logs because the grain is, as best I can describe it, swirled.

There are two smaller ones in the back lot. We're going to cut them down. I can probably get some usable firewood from them because it won't have to be split.

Meanwhile, I spend a whole lot of time destroying the 'volunteer' trees popping up everywhere.

[paleotn]

25. When we moved up north....

some years ago, the first thing we did at our place was cut down the bradford pears. Surprised to see them this far north. Didn't think they could handle the winters. The previous owner planted them as ornamentals, but being from the south, I knew better.

[Mossfern]

26. As alien invasives have always been my personal enemy

I have often wondered if one were to take a plot of land and allow a generous mix of several of these non native invasive species, which would win out? For example (relevant to my climate) Porcelain berry, Japanese knotweed, Mugwort, Garlic mustard, wild hops, wild grape, Norway maple tree of "heaven"...off the top of my head just for starters.

It would be be a great war between the species. I live in northern NJ, so feel free to add on to my list of culprits.

I was involved with a meadow restoration several years ago. Acres and acres of mugwort was growing as high as 6 feet. When they mowed the field down, there was no residual wildlife kill - field mice, etc. That indicated that mugwort would support NO LIFE, and provided NO HABITAT.

I call that particular place Mordor these days, because the supposed "reservation" has been taken over - except the area of the restored meadow.

[llmart]

30. +1

I would add bittersweet. Never, never plant bittersweet.

I actually think nurseries and garden centers should be prohibited from selling invasive species, but you know, it's all about the dollars.

[Botany]

45. You can plant American Bittersweet but not the Oriental Bittersweet

I know I will get hammered for this but invasive plants are a good reason to have
round up. BTW I am an expert in this field too. If you got something else I am all
ears but really are @ war with these plants.

BTW nurseries, garden centers, and landscapers still sell and install tons of non native
pest plants such as day lily*, burning bush, English ivy, barberry, buckthorn (even the
"sterile ones" are an ecological mess), Norway Maple, rose of sharon, purple leaf winter-
creeper, Amur Maple, Eucalyptus, Maiden Grass, Vinca, honeysuckle shrub** & vine, &
spirea.

* Day Lily is now resistant to glyphosate

** We do have a native honeysuckle, Diervilla lonicera

[Mossfern]

47. Thanks for the extended list

I have Wisteria and Trumpet vine growing up against an income property (130 old Victorian).
I've tried continual cutting back to the ground, but one has to be super diligent about that and I live about an hour away.

I sure would like to use Roundup- but my tenants would have heart attacks! Many work in environment advocacy groups or for the DEP or watershed management jobs.

I managed to gain control of Yucca gone wild there by digging it out by the root and continually mowing it down. The former owner allowed one of the tenants to plant this invasive Yucca around the perimeter of the property as a "green fence." Ugh!

[Botany]

64. You can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good

Non native and invasive plants and not unless you live in
MO or a few other spots trumpet vine is not a native.

I try to discourage people from planting clinging from buildings. The blooms although pretty do not make up for the maintenance problems and costs.

Explain to your tenants why you are removing the plants and the PROPER use of chemicals should not be any risk to the environment or people. Especially if you are going to replace the plants with natives.

I would suggest cutting the woody parts of the vines off at ground level and treating the x-cut with a mix of round up and tri clo pear (spelling) both vines are very aggressive and will send up sprouts for years. Treat the leaves with a dilute solution of round up every month...
they will die back but then will send up new growth. Treat this new growth on warm days and only get the chemicals on the foliage of what you want to kill.

Any ?s p.m. me.

[Mossfern]

71. Thanks

I have a friend who volunteers for the invasive species strike force; she's given me similar advice.
Somehow the person who owned the house before me had a 'romantic' aesthetic. The vines have done their damage,but after painting and repairs, I keep them in check. (cut down to the ground)

I do intend to use the herbicides without guilt. When I pointed out mugwort in the front garden and asked one of the tenants to please pull it, he didn't. This is after I explained the ecological consequences of leaving it there.

[llmart]

65. Actually, even though there is a native bittersweet, it's still invasive.

There are some native plants that I consider invasive.

I worked in a couple of nurseries and yes, I know they sell lots of invasive plants. Snow on the Mountain, Pachysandra, lily of the valley, etc. etc. I would always try to talk people out of buying them, but sometimes the customers just wanted them no matter what you told them. I probably wasn't what the nursery owners wanted in a salesperson

[Botany]

69. Nursery/Garden Center I worked at sold Edelweiss, Mt. Laurel, some types of azaleas, and sourwood ..

.... trees none of which had a chance in hell in Central OH. We did sell lots of burning bush, Norway
Maples, privet, day lily, purple losestrife and English ivy too. They made lots of money and people walked
away thinking they were all "green" and what not.

[Fla Dem]

28. Brazilian Pepper trees also very invasive and it's now illegal to plant in Fl.

My neighbors (3 owners ago) planted one or had it planted in their back yard about 12 years ago in the corner of their yard that abutted my property. At first not a problem, it grew extremely fast and the foliage provided the screening they wanted from the property behind them. However, as the years went by the branch off shoots and growth spread into my yard. It began engulfing and suffocating the Live Oak trees on my property. Even though we would cut back the foliage that encroached on the property, each year it became even more invasive and beyond our ability to get rid of it. Even the current owner of the property had some work done to pare back the tree.

I just paid a tree service $1600 to completely remove all of the growth that has invaded my property. The offshoots had reach a height where they were strangling the oak trees from the top. The tree guys had to climb the Oak trees to get to the growth at the top. I'm hoping the oaks regenerate. My concern, is until the mother tree is destroyed, it will continue to produce root that will then produce new tree sprouts. I will be urging my neighbors to completely remove and kill the tree. The problem is they're only here after Christmas until June. Snowbirds. So getting them to do something that will cost them money might be difficult.

Moral of this story......DO NOT plant a Brazilian Pepper Tree on your property.

[LeftInTX]

37. They're ugly too! Along with Australian Pine!

[Demovictory9]

39. Looks pretty. 800$! Pricey!!

https://images.app.goo.gl/aJNTC6KgGFGUuh8y8

[Gore1FL]

31. I did landscape labor in the 1980's when I was in college. We planted a lot of these.

At the time, the word was they were sterile and infertile. Obviously that was false.

[BobTheSubgenius]

33. We don't have an invasive tree problem here, but we do have an invasive plant.

Scotch Broom. Local legend has it that a Captain Grant was homesick for his native Scotland, and had 4 seeds sent to him. It's apparent that it really, really likes it here, because it has spread as far as Oregon.

It's physically tough and incredibly resilient. It's hard to dig up and even small, young plants are almost impossible to pull out - they have to be dug. In the summer, you can hear the seed pods crack and spread their vile spawn.

If you have enough horses, you can eradicate it from limited areas. Horses seem to love it, eating it right down to the ground, and they can eat it far faster than it grows, obviously. Not a good general solution, though.

[Hekate]

41. Will goats eat it? Some folks hire out herds of goats for weed control. nt

[BobTheSubgenius]

42. I was wondering that myself.

Having seen how picky goats aren't, I'd venture a "yes."

[Hekate]

60. I haven't personally seen them in action, but I keep reading about them & love the thought...

Fortunately we are only responsible for our own half-acre, a lot of which is canopied by a Calif Coast Live Oak, and the rest landscaped in fairly drought-tolerant stuff. (You can “read” water usage over the past 35 years by following the decommissioned irrigation systems: the decorative gravel areas still have old sprinkler heads sticking out, indicating where the original owners started with grass.) Right now my worst concern is the bunnies who are tunneling under the hedges and killing them by stripping the bark off. I am so done with those bunnies. Poisoning them is a last resort, because they are low on the food chain and I don’t want the predators to get sick.

[Mossfern]

43. .... and then there's the deer

Wish we could train them to eat invasive species of plants.
But noooooo!

They prefer vegetables and flowers.

[gulliver]

48. A landscaper told me they grow fast but have relatively weak branches

I'm into disease-resistent American elms lately

[MineralMan]

52. In Southern California, in my youth, The "Tree of Heaven,"

Ailanthus altissima, was enormously popular in new housing developments. It grew fast - very fast - into a tall tree that could grow anywhere, regardless of poor soil and little water.

Later, everyone recognized it as a weed tree, and you see fewer and fewer of them now. My childhood home had a very large one in the yard. Pesky, messy plant that had bad-smelling flowers to boot.

[Demovictory9]

53. "Invasive tree of heaven more like a tree of hell for some"

https://www.capitalpress.com/ag_sectors/timber/invasive-tree-of-heaven-more-like-a-tree-of-hell-for-some/article_e81e7818-eb08-11eb-a8df-e78e3c0a28db.html

In the late 1700s, the tree of heaven plant was introduced to the U.S. by horticulturists who sought it out as a unique ornamental tree.

While the tree may be handsome and provide shade in the summer heat, it is also highly invasive in urban, agricultural and forested regions and can create environmental impacts by blocking out other plants, according to the Oregon Department of Agriculture Plant Pest Risk Assessment.

“It's an alley cat tree; it can stand pollution, and drought. It's quite successful in all kinds of environments,” said Patrick Breen, an emeritus appointment at Oregon State University.

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Tree of heaven can be identified by its compound leaves on which lots of quill-shaped leaflets are attached. The bark is smooth and brownish-green. If the bark is broken, it releases a foul smell, almost like a soured peanut butter odor.

Tree of heaven can also prevent other vegetation from growing around it by releasing chemicals through its roots.

The plants are also primary hosts for the spotted lanternfly, an invasive insect that can kill other trees, grapevines, apple trees, hops vines and other species by leaving a sticky sap on their base and making it more susceptible to other plant diseases and insects.

[MineralMan]

54. Exactly. It's very productive of seeds, and also commonly spreads

through sucker growth from roots. The seeds are very active and a mature tree can produce 300,000 seeds every year. They'll sprout anywhere, including in cracks in sidewalks and soon will destroy the sidewalk or driveway if not immediately killed.

Its a tree that epitomizes the dangers of introducing non-native plants.

Sadly, it's a good-looking tree and quickly provides shade wherever it's planted. Later, it's a nightmare.

[Retrograde]

62. The squirrels plant them all over my yard

along with holly nuts.

[Doremus]

59. I have been blessed for 30 years with a worse Japanese invasion

Knotweed. I have been doing this ever since:

[Retrograde]

63. Eucalyptus globulus

a.k.a., the Tasmanian blue gum. Back in the 1850s someone had the bright idea to import them to California thinking they'd make great timber. They don't. They've spread over much of the Bay Area, growing in the hills. They shed their bark all year round, they drop pyramidal seeds like organic caltrops (which makes it dangerous to walk down to the corner since they're a tripping hazard) and tend to burn rapidly and hotly, making them a major fire hazard. And we didn't even get the koalas to go with them - although I hear they have problems as well.

And don't get me started on oxalis....

[TigressDem]

66. Sounds like a great candidate for BONSAI in a pot and cultured.

IDK

[jeffreyi]

67. I wonder if it's ok for pollinators.

And I thought the tree from hell was going to be Ailanthus, Tree of Heaven. Guess that one has been around too long to alarm anyone.