The Whispering Crane Institute

Trees We Do Not Like

,

There are trees we do not like.
These are trees to take a hike.
One is called the Bradford Pear.
Please don’t plant it anywhere. -RA

Trees the dancin' tree.jpg

[sent via an e-mail, she’s a real beauty!]

The other day I added some quotes from past lectures including a quote about the nasty Bradford Pear. I then received a comment from Bill over at the Giant Duck Institute, about the Bradford pear and one of Bill’s favorite’s the Norway Maple, which got me to thinking.

What are the nasty trees that no one wants or should have in the landscape? So far we got 3, because I’m adding the good ‘ole sugar maple. So, so far:

  • Pyrus c. ‘Bradford’ the Bradford pear
  • Acer saccharinum L. the Sugar Silver(0000ps! my bad) Maple-is my pick, though I also have no love for the B. pear.
  • Acer platanoides L. the Norway maple-Bill from the Giant Duck Institute.

So let’s hear it! What are your picks and why. Just click on the comments link and add your choice. When we get up to 10 . . . if we get to 10 I’ll put up a page. That way they’ll be posted.

Here’s the Squidoo page where the list resides.

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Addendum on November 8th, 2007

This has become the number one post on this blog, my guess you are here because of a search engine hit on trees. here are a few more post that might interest you.

  • This post talks about voting for the worst tree, and a link to the Squidoo page where the link is.
  • “The Seven-Son Flower”(SSF), or Heptacodium miconiodes.
  • Talking about the World of Arborculture.
  • Looking to help an organization with reforestation, contact Trees for the Future, this post will fill you in on the organization.
Rick Anderson
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254 responses to “Trees We Do Not Like”

  1. Bee Jay Harrison Avatar
    Bee Jay Harrison

    Hello, I haven’t read all the postings yet but I had to add my most hated tree… it’s the SWEET GUM. Is there a bigger weed? I don’t think so. Not only does it take up all the spare room in the yard but it drops spiked seed pods (we call them sweet gum balls) that are a royal pain to keep cleaned up. Attention: DON’T step on one! They hurt bare feet and will twist the strongest ankle. The pods get caught in/on everything. My sheltie comes in with them matted in his hair, making him miserable. There is no way to get rid of them. The trees also spread by roots. To eradicate I would have to plow up my entire yard, replace all the soil and even then they would pop back up as if by magic. Boooooo to the sweet gum.

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  2. Adam Avatar
    Adam

    Hello all, I think it´s a bit sad to say wich trees are not nice and wich are, ALL trees are nice, they all have their nice things and bad things, but without them we might not be here, in our world. Trees are like people or animals, they all have good things and bad ones too, maybe it would be good instead, to say wich trees not to plant in a garden or an area, because the problem IS THE people who plant them, the tree itself can´t help it to be in a place, and it can´t move!
    I´m a gardener and love Nature, and I feel sad and cross with people like you who say, I don´t like this tree!

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  3. Adam Avatar
    Adam

    Hello it´s me again, I forgot to say, that the photo of the tree looks like a Jacaranda, or a African Flame tree, but I read that it might be a Locust? I don´t think so.
    Locusts have bigger leaflets.
    adam the gardener.

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  4. azia Avatar
    azia

    that is cool……………….

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  5. Santita Avatar
    Santita

    Amazing, I love it!!!!!!!

    Email me back!!

    About what???

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  6. Elizabeth Avatar
    Elizabeth

    Where is that tree above (the one that looks like a dancer) located?

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  7. dale Avatar
    dale

    Dancer is a Tree of Heaven.

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  8. Leanna Avatar
    Leanna

    I agree, it looks like a dancer… hopefully everyone can see this and realize it’s beauty. Maybe it’s existance is purely art to a special eye. People, tree’s, bugs, etc.. all living things exist for a reason. You just need to find the positives and Look deeper…

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  9. Jan Avatar
    Jan

    Black Walnut — I’d like to speak up on behal of the two h-u-g-e walnuts on my property line. I bought my parents old house, so I know the trees were there in 1960, when the house was built. For decades, walnuts have crashed to the ground, squirrels have smashed the nuts on the drivewa, and leaves have littered the lawn in hot, dry weather (like now). Nevertheless, I wouldn’t give up my giant walnuts. They tower over the house, sentinels guarding the neighborhood. It’s true there’s a problem planting around them, but maples do well, as do cherries and the ubiquiteous ash trees. A combative sugar maple has grown from the stick my brother brought home one Arbor day, and forced the walnuts to accept its proximity. Okay — in the interest of fair reporting, I’ll admit I just had a younger one cut down in the middle of the back yard. Left the one way in back, but there is no hope for certain fruits and vegetables if there’s a black walnut around. And, let me assure you that a wide swath of mulch around the base is very handsome on these proud, tall trees. As for the ash, let me add that I’ve begun treating them. EAB was discovered in my SW Ohio country last year. Mulberry, though, I have no patience for. The berries stain badly and there is no way to prevent the dogs from tracking the smashed juice into the house. I draw the line at stained linoleum in the kitchen.

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  10. Eric Avatar
    Eric

    I have no idea why you do not like that tree….that has to be the coolest tree I have seen in quite sometime…it looks like a ballerina.

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  11. Natetronn Avatar
    Natetronn

    Yes I agree with Eric and anyone else who said it (I did not read all 100+ comments.)

    At least this particular picture is really cool and does look like a women doing ballet.

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  12. George Avatar
    George

    Dont look down on the Mulberry. The reason why is the fruit is very tasty. Also, many people who are of Oriental descent are and have for made jams with the fruit for years. The trend right now is to have a landscape that can both look good but also used for food. Yes the tree can be messy, but it never belonged next to a patio. Plant the tree out on a property line away from the house. It also has a distintive leaf which just adds something different for the eye

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  13. destiny Avatar
    destiny

    ooooouuuuu

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  14. destiny Avatar
    destiny

    hi

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  15. Sasha Avatar
    Sasha

    Oh goodness. Bradford pears smell like rotting… something.
    My across the street neighbors three doors down have them and in the spring… enough said.

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  16. mari Avatar
    mari

    hi

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  17. Terri Avatar
    Terri

    This was a hilarious! For those of you who are concerned that tree snobs need more sex, I can only say I hope you are more particular with your selection of partner(s) than you seem to be with your tree selection.

    In defense of tree snobs everywhere, it’s not that we don’t appreciate all living things, but that we simply value our own lives and time too much to want to be dealing with a tree that has a lot of pest or disease problems. Nor do we want to spend most of our gardening time picking up broken branches, nuts, fruit, or digging up suckers. Nor do we want to have to pay a plumber thousands of dollars to clean out the roots from our sewer systems . Parden me for being particular, but my time, money and enjoyment are at stake here.

    A couple of the worst offenders (non-stop suckers, roots that clog sewer lines) in Utah are the Chinese Elm and the Russian Olive. Plant a Paperbark Maple!

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  18. alan Avatar
    alan

    I couldn’t help but think of my days decades ago working in downtown Washington DC. On several streets the City had planted ginko balboa trees. They are an ancient prehistoric plant that I’ve seen in other settings where they were terrific. But next to the curb, where they dropped the most stinky fruit that you easily stepped into, it was unbelievably horrible.

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  19. Sunny Avatar
    Sunny

    GLOBE WILLOW!!

    1. Tiny, un-rake-able leaves.

    2. TWIGS that rain down, like, well, RAIN!! Constantly cluttering the yard.

    3. Repeat!

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  20. This one takes real patience | Natural Health & Organic Living Blog : NaturalBuy.com

    […] has some truly unique photos. I would love to show them but they’re copyrighted. So just hop over to his website and wash […]

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  21. Kenna Avatar
    Kenna

    I realize this

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  22. Kenna Avatar
    Kenna

    Ligustrum – worst tree/shrub ever. EVERYONE I KNOW is allergic to them, but they’re all over the place here in Louisiana. And, in my opinion, they’re not that attractive anyway.

    And I totally concur about the Bradford Pear – every time there’s a hurricane, my neighbor loses another one to the winds, invariably the fallen tree falls across the street or across a power line. They’re pretty, but impractical.

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  23. Asha Avatar
    Asha

    Hiya my names Asha,
    I was just doing my homework looking for a picture of tree and i saw this page. I’m 13 and will soon be 14. My question is how can you hate such a wonderful tree?
    Tree’s are advantageous because they take in C02 and give us humans oxygen. Besides that This tree is utterly beautiful, it is as if it is a ballet dancer gracefully lifting its legs and looking up towards the sky. In fact you are quite lucky to posses such a tree. Then again, you could have just hired one of your gardeners to use a chainsaw and cut off its remaining branches to give it that shape. But hey i am not blaming anyone. SO yeah I love the Tree 🙂 🙂 🙂

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  24. Judith Birmingham Avatar
    Judith Birmingham

    the Tree is really spooky…..but in a nice way,…..it is different but unique which is so cool…..it’s got a little tease in it… maybe knida sad too some don’t like it……but it captures of atention and says stare at me. It doesn’t just look like a tree, its like a cloud, you can use your imagination and keep guess what it (kinda) looks like.

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  25. Gigi Avatar
    Gigi

    whoo, a lot of people think it looks like a dancer, it does but to me it looks like a hand, the palm and fingers, closing, to me it’s kinda of spooky. But I don’t hate it and love to have it in my back yard.

    Wonders of nature , do inspire.

    Interesting, when i 1st had access to these shots I immediately saw a dancer, an intriguing female form.

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