Bradford Pears

[berk]

Greetings,
Yes, I had a few questions to ask about the Bradford Pear trees. I have three or should I say I now have two in my yard. One which was lost in a recent storm to either lighting or wind is shattered and half standing. If I cut it back is there any possibility of returning. Also, what time of the year is a good time to cut the others back. We live in the coastal North Carolina region.

 

[Sudo Tsuga]

off of your topic a little you will eventualy loose the other two.
bradford pears tend to be very weak, included bark causes weak croches. loss of leads and half of trees is inevitable.

 

[Toddppm]

Yes the one that broke will grow back like a weed , that's why they're so weak. Reducing the others is a waste of time and not an industry standard pratice. They should have been pruned while they were growing to improve the structure, which we all know never happens, the only pruning they usually get is to raise the lower branches.
They can be thinned now to try to help the wind pass through better but it's definately not a cure for neglect, trying to reduce them in size will only make them grow faster and weaker.
I would just spend the money to replace the broken one now with a more appropriate tree and the others as they fail(or sooner!)

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Yes, there are alot of Callery pears with much better form then Bradford.