Poor trees.... Go help them.

Can u give an approximate location? We can submit pictures to identify

These are Bradford pears or other ornamental pears. They appear to have fabraea maculata, otherwise known as black spot or they may have pear rust. Both are fungal diseases. Many have been diseased for years. There are at least 10 of them planted on the East side of Everit Street. The fungus has spread to most of them now and may well spread to edible pears in the neighborhood. Wherever the fallen leaves go, the fungus goes with them. The fungus overwinters in twigs and fallen leaves, and becomes active in the spring when splashing rain water spreads the spores to susceptible plants. An advanced infection causes bud reduction, stunted growth, yellow leaves and premature leaf loss. Complete defoliation may occur by mid-summer. The pear in my front yard is mostly defoliated. The leaves that remain on the tree are black. A fungicide treatment could be attempted, but with the extent of this disease, it may need to be performed in the spring, all summer long and perhaps into the fall every year. I suspect the fungus will continue on these trees even with treatment. Ornamental pears need to be in full sun. Most of these trees are in partial sun or almost no sun due to the heavy canopy of Norway Maples, Oaks and other large trees on Everit Street. Bradford pears are susceptible to fungal diseases and the lack of sun just compounds the issue. Also Bradford Pears need to be pruned annually to prevent splitting. The healthy life span of a Bradford Pear is about 20-25 years. Because these trees do not have the required sun exposure, are at the end of their lifetimes, have a spreading fungus and are considered invasive in CT, I believe they should be removed. I have photographs from this year and 10 years ago that I will post in a new comment.

The Bradford pears on my street were planted in 1989 after the big tornado we had that came through Fair Haven & Hamden. The wood & branches appear very brittle & are easily broken off. A parking or passing truck can snap the limbs off too easily. To compound things, the trees were planted on the side of the street where the utility lines are all originating from. From my calculations they are at least 28 years old. If replanting is to be considered, perhaps a different species of tree needs to be considered and consideration for utility lines..

This issue was recategorized from Public Space, Streets and Drains to Parks Request.

Upon further examination this morning, we may have a couple of issues going on with these trees. I'm going to the UCONN Master Gardener office tomorrow. I'll take a few samples with me to be examined under the microscope. Here are photos from a couple of weeks ago.

Earlier stage

Leaf Litter

The diseased trees are located in the middle of the long block of Everit.

Thank you, Celeste, for investing time & expertise in this problem. Maybe the City should have you on payroll?

Is someone from the city going to respond?

Is someone from the city going to respond?

Sorry, with the significant backlog of trees we acknowledge issues as they are inspected by our arborist which is done based on date of report unless it is clustered near another issue or is flagged to need more prompt review due to description. This issue was flagged for us by DPW for follow up so the Arborist reviewed the thread prior to its making its way to the top of the inspection cue.

"There are a number of fungal diseases in the area that pear trees can contract and most of the time those diseases are usually not life threatening.
Unfortunately, weather conditions in the spring greatly influence the occurrence and severity of the diseases which can flare up making it very hard to manage. Sanitation of leaves are usually picked up by homeowners in the fall, or with city street sweepers doing their best to pick up leaves by the curb. Although these diseases usually only affect the Aesthetics of the tree, we will reinspect the area in the spring so that we can get a better idea of the severity of the disease(s)and to also to remove and prune any affected areas of the tree so to improve its health. In extreme cases, we would not rule out the possibly of removing trees that were severely infected. Thank you"

The fungal disease on the Bradford pear trees have the fungal disease again this year.

Has anyone called Parks to get an inspection for 2019 ? The problem does not look like it is getting any better with all the rain we had this spring.

Trees will be re-inspected next spring. Trees continue to maintain full canopies regardless of disease. Aesthetics only.