Re-Green Tulsa - Replacing trees lost by ice

[EricP]

quote:Originally posted by PonderInc

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

My bradford pears survived the ice storm unscathed. I had one branch but I think it was coming down before the storm.

That branch fell down when I sneezed on it a couple months ago...

Weird that bradford pears are so brittle, yet they can support the weight of 10,000 starlings roosting...

I don't think it's that they are brittle, just have poor branching habits.

Our 19 year old bradford pear bit the dust in spectacular fashion. I had pruned it perfectly and it gave its most spectacular fall show ever last year, we decided we would really miss that kind of tree so we replaced it with an Aristocrat to try to get the benefits without the drawbacks. RIP Mr. Bradford 3 other bradfords were totally destroyed on our street, 2 others damaged about 50%. I have seen several aristocrats around town now that I recognize them and they are all spotless. A lot of younger bradfords did OK as well because they were not quite as weighed down already.

You can see how the main trunk doesn't really exist past about 1/4 of the way up the tree, that is one of the areas the aristocrat is much stronger in: