Thank you for adding this, Damien. I intended to conclude my reply with
that very same plea but forgot to. There are no Bradford pears on our
property, but they are everywhere around me. If you're in middle Tennessee
and want to see how invasive these pear trees can be, take a stroll around
the Greenway at Crooked Branch Park in Lakewood, Nashville Tennessee. It's
right along the Cumberland River and those bottoms are filled with those
Callary pear trees. Same thing on the Stones River Greenway along the
Stones River and probably every other river bottom nearby.
*Best, Greg*
*cedarbees@xxxxxxxxx <cedarbees@xxxxxxxxx>*
On Tue, Aug 30, 2016 at 3:03 PM, <tnbarredowl@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Concerning Bradford Pears (and Cleveland Pears, same species): DO NOT
plant them for birds/wildlife. Waxwings, Starlings and Robins, among
others, do eat them and then spread the seeds everywhere. The offspring,
callery pears, are extremely invasive and are spreading at an alarming
rate throughout the area. They will likely become as uncontrollable as all
the other invasives (privet, mimosa, etc.). Unlike Bradford's, callery
pears have large thorns, making control a painful and sometimes expensive
(flat tires on equipment) endeavor. They can turn a nice grass field
(Grasshopper/Henslow's sparrow, quail habitat) into a thorn scrub thicket
in less than five years. They also tolerate fire well, so that is not a
management option for grasslands. We (TVA) fight them constantly on our
grasslands and, unfortunately, may be losing the war.
Damien Simbeck
Killen AL
Sent from AOL Mobile Mail
------------------------------
On Tuesday, August 30, 2016 Greg Tomerlin <cedarbees@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Just a note on attracting drupe- and fruit-loving birds. Keep your eyes on
poke sallet along the roadside and brush piles this time of year. Cedar
waxwings love those deep purple poke berries. Then long about November and
December, before any hard freezes, cedar waxwings will eat those tiny pears
on Bradford pear trees. I'm not sure if they like the pears or eat them out
of necessity because they leave way more hanging than they eat, but they do
eat some of them.
And finally, our red mulberry tree attracts rose-breasted grosbeaks and
cedar waxwings every spring. It also attracts robins, starlings and
mockingbirds. The rose-breasted grosbeaks look like they've been in a
fistfight after just a few minutes chomping on those juicy blueberries.
Their beaks and faces look bloodied.
*Best, Greg*
*cedarbees@xxxxxxxxx <cedarbees@xxxxxxxxx>*
On Mon, Aug 29, 2016 at 3:23 PM, <kde@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Just be sure to plant the native Red Mulberry and not the highly invasive,
non-native White Mulberry.
Dean Edwards
Knoxville, TN
On Mon, 29 Aug 2016, Jesse wrote:
If you have the room for it, I would like to suggest you plant aMulberry
tree. We have two in our yard and they are full of birds when berriesare
ripe. Only problem is that if allowed to, the trees will cover a prettygood
area and may need to be cut back every few years. Well worth the botherone so
though if you like birds to be happy in your yard. We planted the first
birds would eat the berries instead of our pie cherries. Works greatas both
have fruit at same time.
Jesse Livingston,
North Old Troy Rd, Obion county
Troy, TN
