[GH85Carrera]

We lost our back yard Bradford pear tree to an ice storm. It was damaged enough it had to come down. I was smart enough to hire a pro because it was right over our koi pond, and just 20 feet to the back fence and my storage building on another side. After watching that pro climb way up to the top to cut off pieces, and lower them down and spend many long hours do the job right, I knew I made the right choice.

We had them lop it off with a two foot stump, now it is a VERY sturdy plant stand. It has taken two years of Roundup on the sprouts to kill off the thing. It even has some sprouts pop up out of the ground 15 feet away. It really wanted to survive, but chemical weapons and a skill saw killed it. The tree was there before the pond, but trees are just in the way when they are not in the right place or the right type of tree.

Bradford Pears are very messy. Early spring the old pear stems fall, the the buds form, and then the husks of the blooms fall. Then it blooms, and it flat STINKS really bad, and the blooms fall. Then the leaves and little tiny "pears" the size of a pea form. In the fall the pears rot and fall to the ground, thousands of them. They are a squishy mess but our dogs love them. The dogs eat lots of them and get HORRIBLE gas. The leaves fall of course and it goes dormant for a while. It seems it was always making a mess. We don't miss it.