Quote:
Originally Posted by craigs
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There are organizations here that will give you free trees to plant. I've gotten trees from one,
TreesUpstate, and planted them only to see the brutality of nature in South Carolina unfold before my eyes. It turns out that carpenter bees, for example, upon learning there is a new redbud tree in the front yard, will gang up on it and work it over like muggers on a Kansan tourist in Times Square, circa 1986. They killed one of the free redbuds I got from TreesUpstate and left the other in tatters. It came back last year, but I haven't seen if it's coming back yet this year.
Meanwhile, when it comes to money for trees, Clemson University runs a program where they will pay you a bounty for your Bradford pear trees. For those unaware, Bradford pears are an ornamental tree that was introduced to the US in the 1960s and planted extensively across the South. They're remarkably fast growing, to the point that their weak wood splits in high winds and under the weight of snow or ice, and although they were supposed to be sterile they most decidedly are not. Once they start escaping into the wild they form dense, impenetrable thickets and can develop thorns that can puncture a tractor tire. All that, and they also have the added benefit of smelling strongly of semen when they're in bloom. With all that, who could resist their charms, but if you can resist, Clemson will pay you money to kill your Bradford pear. I can recall seeing them all over the place when I was a kid in the 80s, but it took a while before people realized what a pain in the ass they were. They are a failed street tree -- which adds another dimension to the discussion. Bradford pears aren't the only ornamental plants that turned out to be a bad idea for adding greenery to urban areas.