Hello Gardenists. We have a long driveway in coastal Victoria, lined with 40 Bradford ornamental pear trees that are coming to the end of their life (20 years). The driveway is possibly the best part of the garden and removal of these trees will leave an awful hole, we are a little heart broken. Does anyone know if it's suitable to re plant where old trees have been or have a suggestion how we might stage a replanting that softens the blow? We have enough space to re-route the driveway if all else fails. Also looking at planting with a deciduous tree that has a long lifespan and would be interested to hear about your favourites.
I am no help on the soil front, but when it comes to tree-lined avenues, I’m rather partial to a Lombardy.
Thanks Sarah, love all the poplars so will have a look at the Flemmings website and see what they have.
The accepted wisdom is that you remove every second tree in the current avenue, and replace them. then when they’re getting established, you remove the remaining trees and consider replacing those. I say ‘consider’ as often it doesn’t take as many trees as you might think, to get the effect, and trees more generously spaced will achieve a better shape and become more reliably self-supporting
Thanks so much for the reply Michael. That’s good news! Will definitely plant fewer trees as you suggest for tree health and to avoid the access issues we’ve had. Feel better already, love the forum.
I was going to suggest thinning the trees. Perhaps every second tree. I have one ornamental pear and it must be 80 years old. So I certainly think you have a few more years to go with your avenue.
I would also check with an arborist as you will want to retain a full canopy, they may have a few tricks of pruning the trees that remain so they fill the space quickly.
Thanks Annick for your suggestions and thoughts. I bet your 80 year old pear tree is a treasure. We have had 2 arborists look at the trees and also someone from our local nursery, all gave conflicting advice so it’s a tough one. The Bradford pear apparently has a short life span of between 18 – 25 years and seems to be the most likely reason for the increasing amounts of die back. We are concerned that even by removing every second tree there will still not be enough light for new planting and also that there will be massive roots structures to work around. Might be off to find yet another arborist! Thanks again.