They look pretty ugly when topped, especially in the winter!

I would just suggest you take it out, cheaper than dealing with it twice.

NEVER.... EVER!!!! .. top a tree ...

with no insult to the roots.. it will explode in vegetative growth ... AT HEIGHT ... making large weak parts.. that will then overhang your yard ...

besides the fact ... its root system is what is leaching all the available water out of the soil.. and besides sun.. that is why you cant even grow shade grass under it..

be done with it.. period ...

and while you have the tree guys there.. figure out what the second one is.. and get rid of it at the same time.. if its any kind of problem tree ... [do note.. if you pay to top it.. wyou will poay.. AGAIN ... for removal.. in a few years ...]

yes.. bradford pears flower smell has been said to smell like nasty gym socks.. left in a gym bag.. in the trunk ..... for a week ... no upside to that .. for sure.. lol ...

get rid of it... and good luck

ken

I have a 10 foot pole saw coming from amazon tomorrow and I'll just hire a labor for $10 an hour and we can get on an 8 foot ladder and just trim everything the pole saw will reach. If it don't work then I'll just hire another labor to help me take it out. I'm retired and this will give me something to do. When would be a good time to butcher the tree?

This post was edited by lostsoul62 on Fri, Jan 31, 14 at 12:20

I wonder if Lostsoul62 is trolling us. I mean wanting to keep a Bradford pear and then deciding to top it...surely this is not a serious inquiry!

Not far from me is a house with ornamental pear trees lining the drive (about 10-12 total); every one of them get topped if not every year then every other year. Terrible sight in winter.

lostsoul, it would be much cheaper to hire labor with a chain saw and just cut it down. Probably two hours work.

I just move in my house about 5 months ago so this is all new to me. After reading all the post it might be best that I do just cut it down with a labor. But my wife isn't really sure about this so maybe it might be a good idea to let the tree flower in the spring and if I really don't like it and can't do something with the shaded area then I'll just get a chain saw and a labor and just cut the thing down and don't worry about pruning it. Thanks you everyone I know more and feel more comfortable if I cut the tree down and I have a feeling that just might be what I'll do but I would like to wait until after it blooms and that will satisfy my wife too. Thanks again.

Man, I sure would have thought that was a linden?

Why not thin out the canopy? It that an option?

It if really is a pear and you don't really need the shade take it out.

You would take down a tree on the basis of 'guessing' what kind of tree it is?

It could be a lot of trees based only on the picture. I can't see leaf shape, bark texture, or much of anything in the picture that could be used for a positive ID. The branching pattern of the tree closest this way does look typical of callery pear, but could also be something else. I have no reason to doubt that it is a callery pear if Lostsoul62 is pretty sure that's what it is.

I am planning to take out all the trees in the mixed allee* lining my driveway and replace them with Bradford pears, anyone know a good cheap mail-order source?

Or should I go with Paulownias?

*auto-correct kept trying to change this to "allele". WTF?

This post was edited by eric_oh on Sat, Feb 1, 14 at 11:28

One thing gardening teaches is patience. You seem unsure as to what kind of tree it is. Wait until you know what it is and what all your options are. I do not like flowering pears but some people do. Maybe you will like it. I have never noticed a bad odor from the flowers. There are ways to mitigate the shade if you decide you do like the tree. I would suggest you go through one growth season. See it in all it's seasonal garb. Then decide what to do.

Of course, if you know exactly what it is and know you don't like it, get ride of it.

Eric_oh, why don't you consider selling your place and moving into an apartment. It sounds like you and the Earth would be better off!

lostsoul, that sounds like a good plan.

eric_oh, consider Carnegiea gigantea. Just as good a choice as Pyrus for you! LOL

hortster

Eric, surely you're joking.