Author Topic: The tree man cometh . . . . (Read 2197 times)

Teresa · « **on:** May 07, 2007, 10:14:20 AM »

And the river birch will cometh down, down, down . . . . and all the nasty bradford pears will be trimmed and topped . . . . I may have a sunny future after all . . . . .

Bonnie · « **Reply #1 on:** May 07, 2007, 11:12:03 AM »

I can see the lilies blooming already!

Why is it that some people don't like Bradford Pear trees?

We had one but it split in a storm so I replaced it with a Cleveland variety.. I like them..

Sean · « **Reply #2 on:** May 07, 2007, 11:22:03 AM »

Make sure you are there and your DH is not so you can tell them to drop the height by about 15 feet

Cheers,
Sean

Teresa · « **Reply #3 on:** May 07, 2007, 11:57:55 AM »

'fraid that will NEVER happen again Sean! He left me alone with the tree man last time and at least 5 extra trees came down . . . . he won't even let me talk to tree men anymore . . . .

Sean · « **Reply #4 on:** May 07, 2007, 12:12:22 PM »

Sorry to hear it Teresa, hopefully you can convince him they need severe thinning.

Cheers,
Sean

Bonnie · « **Reply #5 on:** May 07, 2007, 12:17:29 PM »

Quote from: Sean on May 07, 2007, 12:12:22 PM

Sorry to hear it Teresa, hopefully you can convince him they need severe thinning.

Cheers,
Sean

I hear that wood ticks are going to be exceptionally bad this year and they are advising to thin trees around homes.

Teresa · « **Reply #6 on:** May 07, 2007, 02:01:01 PM »

Bradford pears are nasty because they have beautiful blooms that smell absolutely disgusting and then they drop copious amounts of petals everywhere. The petals then get very slick and slippery and stick together and are hard to clean up. Then they get tiny little 1/4" to 1/2" pears that they drop everywhere and they are hard as little rocks and hurt your feet. Then in the fall, they are the very last trees to drop their leaves . . . months after everything else is long done and they drop them all in a day or so. They usually don't drop them till it's about ready to freeze, so they drop, get wet and then freeze. They make a driveway (ours is lined with the stupid trees all the way up and around . . . you can see at least 5 in that pic) very slippery, so even the car slides down the hill. And the leaves are hard to clean up too . . . and they grow funny so they have to be pruned or they snap in wind or ice storms.

There are 16 of them lining my driveway and they have never been properly pruned. The guy who lived here before us didn't do it and so they were too big and had already grown dangerous forks before we moved in the house. We wanted to top them but first were advised against it because they hadn't been pruned to have wide forks when young. The arborist came out and said that they could be topped and thinned, but the price was prohibitive. I dunno what has possessed DH to do it now, but I'm so happy he's doing it.

So I hate them because they are messy and uncooperative and not very pretty.

And I really hope they are getting a very severe thinning because they need it as much as I want it . . .

Ky Kim · « **Reply #7 on:** May 07, 2007, 03:54:28 PM »

I agree that do have a disgusting smell, and the little pears balls yes...OUCH. We had two in the front yard, we lost both a couple years back in a storm. So brittle.

I have 2 Cleaveland Pears in the backyard, they stink too. They're suppose to be stronger than the Bradfords, but don't count on it.

My dad has lost 2 Bradfords, 2 Cleavlands.........one of the Cleavlands was from a storm, and the other just split down the middle one day. Probably happened during a storm but didn't split till later on in the summer.

My neighbor across the street has lost 5 Bradfords out of 6 from storms. I WILL NEVER plant another one of them.

Kim

Joyce · « **Reply #8 on:** May 07, 2007, 05:08:53 PM »

I'm so HAPPY for you Teresa! At least something is being done!

I agree Bradford Pears SUCK royally and are the most overused, short lived bloomer and brittle wooded tree I have ever come across. Besides having HORRIBLE growth habits and tendencies to seed all over the place almost as bad a privet hedge. And messy stinky. They can not handle any winds stronger than your average breezy day. All we do at work is replace, replace, replace BFs. I can honestly use the word HATE when I think of BFs. When customers ask for them, I tell them outright we do not guarantee BFs. It's the only tree we do not give our 1 year guarantee on.

There are so many more beautiful, practical trees to plant.

Teresa · « **Reply #9 on:** May 07, 2007, 05:18:20 PM »

Quote from: Joyce on May 07, 2007, 05:08:53 PM

I'm so HAPPY for you Teresa! At least something is being done!

I agree Bradford Pears SUCK royally and are the most overused, short lived bloomer and brittle wooded tree I have ever come across. Besides having HORRIBLE growth habits and tendencies to seed all over the place almost as bad a privet hedge. And messy stinky. They can not handle any winds stronger than your average breezy day. All we do at work is replace, replace, replace BFs. I can honestly use the word HATE when I think of BFs. When customers ask for them, I tell them outright we do not guarantee BFs. It's the only tree we do not give our 1 year guarantee on.

There are so many more beautiful, practical trees to plant.

Yeah, well unfortunately the stupid BP's in my yard have been here longer than me and just won't die or get hit by lightning!!! And yes, I forgot to mention all the danged suckers they send up all over the place. And in my yard, they couldn't possibly be more overused!!! Imagine that I have that many and only just over 1/2 an acre of city land . . ..

happyoutsidegirl · « **Reply #10 on:** May 07, 2007, 09:58:59 PM »

I have pears. 5 1/2 acers of them. But there not the trees I'm startting to hate

I have 2 rows of of 10 Auzzie Trees. there Tall and wonderfull shade but a ton of leaves and now those stupid cattapiller thingies are snowing down into the pond and covering my deck.

Mikey · « **Reply #11 on:** May 07, 2007, 10:20:40 PM »

Has the olive tree managed to survive in your zone?

Teresa · « **Reply #12 on:** May 08, 2007, 07:50:33 AM »

I took the olive in over the winter and it's just fine. It's gotten a lot bigger and probably needs a larger pot, but I can't let it get too big if it's going to live in a pot . . . . . wonder if it would take our winters . . . .

happyoutsidegirl · « **Reply #13 on:** May 08, 2007, 10:00:16 AM »

There are Olive Trees all over the place here and they do just fine! Is there more than one kind of Olive Trees???

LeeAnne151 · « **Reply #14 on:** May 08, 2007, 05:03:43 PM »

I can't imagine Olives surviving in Eastern Washington. Maybe another tree that is called an Olive?

They are borderline in zone 8

Teresa · « **Reply #15 on:** May 08, 2007, 06:50:36 PM »

I was doing some research and found this little blurb that says that olives are pretty hardy - just don't fruit in cold climates:

Quote

Cultural Requirements Some olives are self-fruitful, but all are best with cross-pollination. Due to the olive tree's hardiness & adaptability, the majority of varietals can survive in just about any climate except the tropics or the poles. They can withstand drought. However, it must be noted that olives will often survive in a harsh climatic zone at the expense of the crop; where the grower wants healthy, trees and regular, heavy crops, climate must not be overlooked.

Cold Climates Includes areas where temperatures can fall below 18°F and snow may fall occasionally. These regions generally only grow oil olives as they are less prone to heavy frost damage. A brief International Olive Oil Council summary of the cold hardiness of olives follows: "The olive can withstand low temperatures of 18°F or even 14°F, and even lower as long as it is not subjected to them for many hours, thawing proceeds slowly and the tree is not at the active growing period (March-October in California). During the vegetative stage, the olive tree is sensitive to low temperatures which can cause damage to twigs and secondary branches, and even to the trunk and scaffold branches. Resistance to cold is a varietal trait. To ensure it fruits well, the olive does, however, need temperatures close to 32°F which induce vegetative rest. It withstands high summer temperatures well, and even lack of ground moisture, although it then adjusts its growing activity to an essential minimum". Out of the cultivars we offer, the most commonly selected for these cold climates are Frantoio, Pendolino and Ascolana.
Moderate Climates - Areas where minimum winter temperatures are generally 25°-27°F and very rarely go below 21°F. Such areas are considered to be typical of the world's olive growing regions. These areas provide the necessary winter chill requirements for dormancy without being so cold as to possibly damage any late season crop. All the cultivars we offer are known to be suitable in such areas.

So now I need to go find the exact type of olive tree I have and see what it says about hardiness . . . . think I still have the tag . . . .

Mikey · « **Reply #16 on:** May 09, 2007, 11:31:57 AM »

The key to survival in the ground will likely be drainage. If you have clay, and where in Georgia is soil that isn't clay

, then you may have to put it on high ground and amend like crazy or even put in gravel with drainage pipes.

Teresa · « **Reply #17 on:** May 09, 2007, 05:42:53 PM »

I think I'll just leave my pretty baby in a pot . . . maybe I'll train it as a standard . . . .

Teresa · « **Reply #18 on:** May 09, 2007, 05:44:11 PM »

Oh and, here it is, Wednesday night already, and the tree cutter man that my DH promised still hasn't shown up. Do you think that he mighta been pullin' my leg? Promising things he didn't plan to deliver? Getting my hopes up for NUTHIN?

(Don't you think he'd have learned not to play games with me by now?)

happyoutsidegirl · « **Reply #19 on:** May 09, 2007, 07:53:59 PM »