My daughter and son-in-law moved into a new house/new development 3 years ago. The Developer planted a Bradford Pear tree in their front yard. And in the yards of most everyone else too. They know it's not a good tree to have because of the splitting issue etc, but they're not in a position to replace it yet. Meanwhile it's sprouting all kinds of limbs low down on its trunk. I need to know what I can do about those to help keep that growth to a minimum. They were little enough last year that I just took my garden shears and clipped them off, but new growth has grown from the stubs My understanding is that this low growth of limbs is NOT a good thing. What do I do? Here's a view from the other side of it.
Ronni, that pear tree is only going to grow, and getting it out later will be a lot harder than getting it out now. Has your daughter and son-in-law considered removing it and putting in a simple flower bed there, or just removing the edging and mulch, and letting grass take over? Otherwise, just cut the stubs as close to the trunk as you can, and be prepared to do this yearly. A pair of long-handled loppers will do a good job and come in handy for other pruning tasks. Loppers cost about $15 for a serviceable pair (and get by-pass loppers, not anvil loppers).
Thanks girls. I figured that's what I should get them to do, but I just wanted to double check. Jane, they're well aware of the risks and problems with leaving it for now. But this is a new house, and there are all kinds of other new house priorities which they have to put their little bit of discretionary income towards before the tree. William has a saw he said he could use on the tree, once I gave him the go-ahead. But I'd really like to get those loppers anyway, just for other uses...all I have right now is a small pair of garden shears. Um......bypass lopper? Will it say that on the label? I guess I can just go to Home Depot and ask.
Bypass is when the blades pass by each other when making a cut....like household scissors. Anvil means they meet and cut. I like the bypass, the cut is cleaner.
Giggle, I like anvil pruners they last longer. But seriously pear are alopathic. It will have to come out and the yard will have to lay fallow (tree-wise) for a year or three, before replanting. If it was me, I'd put in a a crab apple in its place.
Coppice, I did not know that! You'd have to plant outside its root circle if you wanted to plant sooner than 2-3 years?
Ronni, I asked an orchard owner and he said that ripping the little sprouts off discouraged them more than cutting (wish I'd known that a few years ago!). He also said that if pulling them down and off is too hard on your hands, use a pair of pliers. Picture a woman attacking a fruit tree with pliers !
Jane, I actually laughed out loud at the mental vision of me out in the front yard viciously attacking the bradford pear tree with pliers!! My neighbor, Paul, is outside frequently tending to his garden, and we commune over garden things. I can just see HIS raised eyebrows, too. William took a saw to the tree and cut off all that growth you can see in the pictures. I imagine sprouts will grow back, just like they did last year when I cut them off. I'll have pliers at the ready to tend to those!! Thanks, Jane.
First, please don't use pliers on a tree The small sprouts coming from the pruned branches are called watersprouts. They from from dormant nodes that are all along branches, but are triggered to grow from the cut above them. They aren't good for several reasons. One is that they don't have a good join to the branch, so can fall off if they are allowed to grow into large branches. Also, their growth form is quite awful. Since they are spindley, they actually grow faster than the original branch which was pruned, rather defeating the purpose of the original pruning. The place to prune branches is just outside the visible branch collar. Have a look for it between the trunk and the branches. You will be looking for some crumpled bark. Again, cut just a little outside it. If you can't see one, and sometimes that happens, cut perhaps 20mm outside the join. The main plant hormone responsible for 'healing' (ok, trees compartmentalise rather than heal), auxin, is found close to the branch collar, so it will help the tree to close the wound and you won't get those sprouts. You're doing the right thing in training the tree to have a single trunk now. It's the most important pruning to do in a small tree. Keeping the growth elevated by removing the lower branches will add utility later, too. Don't overdo it though, or you could make it a bit top-heavy.
Okay, I put the pliers away! I have tried to prune just outside the collar, but obviously I missed my target a few times. Ah, well, practice makes perfect (as long as you are practicing perfectly) so I'll keep at it but try to keep the fruit trees balanced and not top-heavy.
Are you sure that is a Bradford pear ?? I have a fruiting one and those leaves look nothing like mine !! Unless it is a fuitless Bradford !!
The council here have these trees over the whole city. They simply saw the lower branches off flush with the tree trunks.
