I believe in ripping them out when they're small, but that's just me. I have two large ones that need to come down - woe is me.

I second your motion, laura; but 12' isn't that "small" anymore! =) Then again, it is a lot smaller than the 45' ones that come crashing down...

Is it stupid to cut the tree near the ground, and graft something on to it? I've never done that, but it sure seems the roots are well established, and it would avoid tearing up the bed (and small retaining wall behind it). Would I only be able to graft another pyrus, or could I switch to a prunus, like a crabapple? Thanks in advance for the expertise!

I think people do use the hardier species to graft onto but I've never heard of them using Bradford Pears for that, nor have I heard of anyone grafting a Prunus or Malus t.o them. I'm not sure grafting works well with large diameter trunks - but I have seen where they chop the trunk at an angle and graft over to one side of that cut. The grafts that take eventually become the leader and no one is the wiser when looking at the tree. The problem would be the amount of time it would take to chop and graft and grow, probably longer than just chopping this tree down and planting something else in its place.

If this was me, and I was the only person involved, doing all the work myself... I would lop off as many branches as I could in the winter when everything is dormant. I would then chainsaw the trunk carefully so as to not crush any bushes nearby. Once I had the bulk of the tree gone I would dig around the base and expose as much of the roots as possible and I would chainsaw these too. I would then fill the space with mulch or compost and let it rot while keeping my eye out for suckering (easy to snap off when they are small). If you can't get much of the root mass removed you might be yanking out suckers for a few years but eventually the tree will give up. In the meantime I would plant something better off to the side in a new hole.

Unlike most gardeners I do not HATE bradford pears. They are quick growing, inexpensive small trees that look great pretty much all year. I dislike that the flowers don't smell all that great and the way this "sterile" tree pollinates other pear species creating monster pear freaks with nasty big thorns. Plenty of other small trees have the same branch breaking, trunk splitting habit just as bad as Bradfords.

It's essentially been in the ground a shade over 1 1/2 years. It was planted--very poorly--as a B&B by the builders, in Nov 2006. Maybe the root ball is still mostly inside the burlap? They really just shoved it on top of the ground and moved the earth around it. Will this make it easier or more difficult to get out of there? I ask because if I can avoid battling suckers, it would be a relief. And I don't really have a space next to it to plant something in the meantime...the azaleas will probably get burned.

This is all really a lesson for me to just be more cautious with planting choices. Even if they're free!

Builder provided trees here in my subdivision were either BPs or Maples. I got a BP as did neighbors on either side. The next spring, my landscape planners/installers recommended deleting the BP. (No, I didn't kill it, it got re-homed to a friend's large empty lot where I'm sure it is very happy now.) Had it been left in place, combined with the BPs on either side of me, I'd be mowing moss on my driveway 'bout now!

My plan put a small (?dwarf) Carolina Silverbell in the BP's place and a Shackleford Serviceberry closer to the neighbor's now incredibly ginormous BP. Serviceberry is holding its own and I just can hope that when/if that neighboring BP fractures, it will fall the other way!

IF you do decide to replace your BP, take a look at the Styrax trees. I have one in my side yard which is putting on the most incredible bloom show these days and while slower growing than BPs, in but five years this has gone from sapling to major focal point. The Carolina Silverbell I mentioned above is in the same Styrax family - both trees are true winners. HTH.

I'd think if it's still B&B it would make it easier. If it were me, I'd cut the thing mostly as John suggested, stopping at the base of the trunk, drill some holes into the trunk straight down and put round up in there to kill the stump. Then plant a bush or another tree close by in a month or so to fill in that area if so desired. If you feel you have to dig the roots, i'd dig out what you can of the closest surrounding plants while dormant, haul that sucker outta there and then replant the dormant stuff. Things are much less traumatic on dormant things (except tropicals that might be marginal- those i wouldn't mess with once dormant). Just my 2cents' worth.

Thanks for the help. My only concern with waiting until winter is that it will give this tree more time to set its roots. I may take my chances sooner...the azaleas may have to take one for the team.

I'd like a place to put in a snowbell...I do already have a silverbell. Full sun should be OK, I guess?...this really is a specimen site, so a snowbell would be gorgeous! Thanks again!

Just an update...I tore the BP out today, using good old-fashioned manpower! It was still mostly in the burlap zone, although the burlap was pretty much gone. The wire cage was still there--thanks, builder jerks--so that helped define the root ball area. Chopped around it with a sharp shovel and used the laws of inertia to rock it out little by little. A gorgeous 8' styrax japonica has replaced it...thanks for the great idea, zigzag! I appreciate all the advice, and am glad to look out and see a well-behaved specimen rather than a fast-growing disaster waiting to happen. It even seems the azaleas will be OK!...time will tell.

Fun! What type of Styrax japonica did you plant? I have a "Emerald Pagoda"...it recently finished blooming and now the fruit is swelling.

Yea, mbuckmaster - job well done and one more BP bites the dust! :o)

Hooray! Here's a vote for something "different" over "what everyone else is planting" (or everyone else that doesn't have a clue ...). Not to mention the invasive issue!

Thanks for the support, Bradford Haters Anonymous. =) I think maybe it was just the species, jq?...there was no variety name listed. It was a reputable nursery that I've dealt with before, though, so I'm not worried. It really is a nice looking tree already; and for only $65 it was a steal!

Now to tackle the 60' Tree of Heaven in my woods!....uuhhh....

You will love the styrax tree. Don't know the variety I have but this spring it is just gorgeous and the fragrance intoxicating.

{{gwi:575441}}

Beautiful pic above! My big side yard styrax really outdid itself this year w/blooms. Otoh, the little one out front (much like the pic above) hardly blossomed at all - side affect of last year's drought, I'm told. Last year it was a traffic stopper! Still, all okay - it's live and happy.

Happy to hear that more GWC's folks are in step w/the styrax genus!