The experts tell you to plant deciduous trees on the South side of your house so they will shade your house in the Summer and allow the heat of the sun to warm your house in the Winter. Being the good little gardener that I am, I followed their wonderful advice.
Okay, okay, so maybe that's not the reason I planted Bradford Pear trees around my driveway.
The truth is that I love more plants than I can possibly plant in my yard so I have done all I can to put plants in every conceivable place I can find. And so when I wanted to plant Bradford Pear trees around my house, I decided to plant them on both sides of my driveway.
One of the reasons I selected Bradford Pears around my driveway is because it was one of the few trees that could be placed close to the foundation of my house. The root system of the Bradford Pears is not as damaging as most other trees. But the main reason I selected Bradford Pears is because of their incredible Fall color. |
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I wish I had pictures of these trees when I first planted them. They were so small, I brought all 4 trees home in my car (a Honda Accord no less!). As with everything else I plant in my yard, these trees have grown at a very fast rate.
These pictures were taken in August 2000. The trees were about 4 feet tall when I planted them in the Spring of 1995. They tripled (or quadrupled) in size in 5 years, and they are even larger by now. |
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| Each tree has its own personality and growth rate. The first tree in this picture has become the largest of the 4 trees for no apparent reason. It has developed a beautiful shape which has made it my favorite of the 4 trees. Birds regularly build nests in the trees, but seem to favor this tree just as much as I do! |
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| The flowers growing under the Bradford Pear trees are Lantanas. To see the Lantanas more closely, visit my Lantana page! |
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