Is my Bradford Pear in trouble this year?

Question

I have Bradford Pear tree that was planted in my front yard four years ago when it was built. Unlike years past, this years fall foilage didnt come about until last week. Usually this occurs in mid to late November, around the time I string up the xmas lights. By the first week of December all of the leaves are gone. As of today this tree has shed maybe 15% of its foilage. Im probably looking at the end of the 1st week of January before it completely sheds its foilage. That seems awfully late. Could this pose a problem for the tree? What affect, if any, will it have on the spring blossoms? It has been unusally mild thus far this year, but we've had a four or five good freezes already here in Fort Worth. Any input from the green thumbers out there would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Hi:

I also live in climate zone seven in South Carolina. Bradford Pear trees will vary year to year when dropping their leaves in the late fall or early winter months. The warmer temperatures around the country this past fall has played a large part of many plant specimens change in behavior. Our Bradford trees can start loosing their leaves in November and sometimes it isn't until the middle of January. This won't affect the spring blossoms. In our area, we have had a very warm fall and there are actually some blooms on some of the Bradford Pears. This is usually short lived when a cold snap hits.



I don't think you will have any problems with your springtime blossoms. The beautiful white flower will once again make their show case in March and April.



I hope this has helped some and I will link you to my site map of my website. This page has everything that is on the website. Browse through and see if you can find any other information on landscape solutions for you in future projects. If you need any further suggestions or help with your Bradford Pear tree, feel free to contact me at the website.



I hope this has helped some and good luck to you. Have a great day!

Kimberly

http://www.landscape-solutions-for-you.com/Site.html

Answer 2

Chances are that if the leaves fell of during the freeze that the freeze should be the cause. Also the flowers that set the fruit have fallen off as well. If you are going to get 32 degrees or less you should run water underneath the tree to cause in iversion layer. The leaves will grow back but you should be short on fruit. Did you prune your Apple tree during the trees dormant time? If so your tree may have gotten bactieral canker. Apple trees should be trimed during there grown period.

Answer 3

I live near Austin, and my trees also were late in loosing their leaves. Chalk it up to global warming, I guess. Many people in the northeastern states believe the coloring of their maples and oaks was delayed by several weeks.



I don't think your trees will suffer any difficulty. After all, you should already know Texas has wildly varying weather patterns, and trees manage through drought, flood, and occasional extreme freezing temps. Though some trees need a certain amount of freezing weather to flower well, I don't think pear trees are one of those.

Answer 4

All deciduous fruit trees need a certain amount of "chill" time (cold weather during dormancy) and Bradford Pears are no exception. Warmer than normal weather cycles can have a negative effect on your Bradford Pear next season. If this tree does not get enough chilling hours this winter, than you may see delayed or no flower blooms next spring and leaf deployment can be delayed significantly. In extreme cases the lack of a "chilling" period can result in death of a deciduous fruit tree.



Additional Details: A delay in leaf drop by a few weeks will have no significant impact on next year's blooms or leaf emergence. Warmer than normal winter temperatures can have a significant effect. In 1948 & again in 1999, deciduous fruit trees where affected in Texas by the lack of adequate "chill" time regardless of the assurances of Kimberly. What will be important to your pear trees will be the temperatures that you encounter in the next few months. You don't have to believe me, here is an article published by the University of Texas A&M that discusses this very issue: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/plantanswers/fruit/lackofchilling.html

Answer 5

The bud on my tree are about 1/2 inch right now and we are expecting freezing temperatures for the next 2 days - will it hurt it? And what can I do about it?