Now I'm just being a nuisance, but I'm excited at finding this forum and possibly answers to all my questions :)
I have a line of Bradford Pear trees at my driveway, we've been at this house 2 years, and I've never fed them, 2 of them aren't as large and beautiful. Late to blossom, early to fade, and much smaller. I think the trees have been there about 10 years. Is there something special I should be doing for them?
Thanks!
I'm not sure what the proper care for them is, but I know they tend to be fairly short lived trees so if they're already over 10 there may not be a lot you can do to improve them.
I dont know about that particular type of pear, but for general care of pears, they like a well dug deep soil enriched with lots of organic matter and top dressed with this manure/organic mater each spring or end of season. they dont like wet soil but on the other hand, like soil that retains some moisture hence the reason for all the organic matter as this helps reatain some moisture without sitting in wet soil, they dislike early morning frost on the flowers in early spring as this kills off the flowers and there is not enough pollinating insects about to help fruiting to take place, dont dig close to the roots and if you have to remove weeds or grass from around the trunks/root areas, mulching is better as digging will harm the roots as they are not deep root trees really, feeding with a mixture of Sulphate of Ammonia, about 1 1/2 ounce per square yard and mix this with a 3/4 ounce sulphate potash per tree, you can mix this with the manure/mulch you use and it will be washed down into the soil, that may help to boost the trees into better growing conditions. water in summer if the soil is dry. Your trees being older might indicate they need pruning also so that would be worth checking out too. Good luck. WeeNel.
Bradford pears are not long lasting trees, to make them last as long as you can make sure you keep them pruned properly.
