By: Shannon E. Barry ENH 101 Fall Quarter 2011
Planted in 1989 24 inch box containers Phased project, part of a master planned community. 8 th of ten phases Pears were well growing healthy trees in the area, so they were used in clusters as the secondary tree (California Sycamore were the primary trees and line the streets) If it wasn't for us there would only be pampas grass out here -Oscar Barry (original developer and grandfather) Pear was a staple tree that could survive the wind and salinity of the sandy soil Recent changes: One of the 4 original trees was removed due to failure Overall health is ok. The 3 remaining trees are effected by fire blight
Scientific name: Pyrus calleryana Cultivated variety of Callery Pear, mainly for ornamental uses In the Rosaceae family 15 to 20 meters tall Deciduous Oval leaves, 4 to 7 cm long, glossy dark green above, and slightly paler below Small fruits (popular with birds and squirrels) White flowers in spring (white, 5-petaled, 2 to 3 cm) Very upright/tight branching Fast growing (average life expectancy is 15 years) Branches break easily in high winds Native to China and Vietnam Commonly used landscape tree (though being planted much less)
Rose family about 3,100 species and 107 genera worldwide flowers are radially symmetrical, typically with 5 sepals united at the base, 5 petals arising from the top of a cup- or saucer-like structure, numerous stamens in several whorls, and 1 compound or several simple ovaries fruits include achenes (small seeds), pomes (eg. apples), drupes (eg. cherries), or aggregations of drupelets (raspberries). Rosaceae plants grow as trees, shrubs and perennial herbs. They also occur as climbing plants, like vines Thorns often are seen on these types of plants. They aid in defense and also as a clasping technique. Rosaceae leaves are usually simple and alternate, with some exceptions. When compound, the leaflets are opposite. Largest genus is Prunus
blackening of leaves from root stress problems (drought, too much water, root injury, etc) their form of leaf scorch Fire blight (which seems to be effecting the trees in my front yard) But otherwise seems fairly tolerant to other diseases and pests
PROS: Beautiful fall color White flowers in spring Even though very upright, a nice overall shape good landscape size (not too big or too small) CONS: Branches break easily in high winds Very upright, weak branching Flowers have a not so pleasant scent in spring Attract squirrels
Generally short lived trees, which is good if you are looking for a somewhat temporary tree but bad if you want a more permanent tree regular maintenance and inspection may help the tree live more around 20-25 years Needs a minimum of 10 to 15 feet to grow in all directions Also said to produce a large amount of surface roots (which I haven t really encountered)
The smallest of the 4 trees in my front yard was about half the size of the other trees. It got very sick and was removed Fire blight! It seems to be affecting all of the trees now. And has been seen all around the block for a few years now. They have not been pruned in a few years, there are extra branches that need to be removed this winter (I will be helping with that)
The Trees: The healthier of the remaining trees in the front yard It is the closest to the house and is even more upright than the others. Note the included bark at the first scaffold branches
The Trees continued The tree I used to climb. Have fallen out a few times due to breaking branches Tons of included bark Easy to climb as a little kid but so crowded that its hard to get in it for Christmas lights, ect.
Love -Beautiful in the spring (flowers) and in the fall (bright color) -This particular tree was easy to climb in (even though I did fall out of it a fair amount of times)
Hate -Very crowded branching -Included bark -AND I had to put Christmas Lights up in the trees one year, and climbing into it made me dislike this tree with a personal reason
But. I still like the trees I have learned all of their faults after coming to UCD But, they are still pretty and they provided me with a lot of fun as a kid
Sources: http://www.ppdl.purdue.edu/ppdl/expert/bradford_p ear_diseases.html http://www.growingthehomegarden.com/2008/04/wh y-you-shouldnt-plant-bradford-pear.html http://montana.plant-life.org/families/rosaceae.htm http://www.austintreeexperts.com/blog/all-aboutbradford-pears/ http://lib.oh.us/tree/fact%20pages/pear_bradford/pea r_bradford.html Aidan Barry (my dad), took the pictures and provided the background and development information