Storm damage to pear tree – how to repair

We had a bad storm here recently, and one of our trees lost a giant branch.  I’m no arborist, but Google is my friend.  I knew it was a pear tree, and after doing some reading, I’m fairly certain that the damaged tree is a Bradford Pear tree.  If you do a Google search, you’ll see all sorts of information about them, most of which is negative.

The reason Bradford pear trees are planted, typically by builders, is that they grow fast and look nice when they are young.  They have nice looking flowers in the spring (but they can smell bad), and they produce nice shade.

So, what is so bad then?  Well, the particular way the braches go makes them very susceptible to breaking.  Many of the branches grow in a very vertical path, which combined with the rapid growth, makes them likely to split under the weight.

When I first looked up how to repair a damaged tree, it seemed that there wasn’t a whole lot you could do besides cutting back the damaged branches back to the trunk.  Depending on the size of the damage, the tree may or may not survive.  The more major branches that are damaged, the less likely the tree will survive.

Right after the branch fell, a nice neighbor with a chain saw cut back the branch to the trunk.  Unfortunately, it was one of the largest branches on the tree, and it took a chunk of the trunk with it when it fell.  I didn’t think there was much else I could do.

Then someone suggested I get “pruning seal” spray to cover the exposed area of the trunk.  I looked it up and saw they sell it at Amazon – spectracide tree and shrub pruning seal.  The reviews seemed mostly positive, so I went ahead and got a can at my local hardware store.  I went ahead and applied it today and here are some pictures of how it looks:

As you can see, it was quite a large area that had been exposed to the elements.  The bottom part had a lot of rough edges that I couldn’t easily cut back.  It is suggested that you try to get rid of as much of the uneven edges, as they are more problematic for attracting bugs and getting infected.  I just sprayed a bunch of the sealing spray all around and from every angle as best as I could.  You can’t really see from this angle, but being one of the major branches of the tree, I would estimate that it was around 20% of the tree that was lost when that branch was removed.  Overall, the tree doesn’t look horrible, unless you look from just the right angle.  I’ll post updates as to how the tree manages to adapt and possible survive.

After reading more and more about the problems with Bradford pear trees, there is also the question of whether it is even worth trying to save a Bradford pear.  Interestingly, most experienced people suggest they are not worth saving.  Some even suggest getting rid of them before there is any damage.  As they get bigger they are more difficult to remove, and there is more risk of damage to surrounding structures (or cars) as they get bigger.  Most likely, I’ll wait and see if the tree survives.  If it lives, I’m sure we’ll keep it until it has more problems.  Based on what people say, the tree will have problems.

Update 4/22/16. The tree has survived and done well, except for the one side that is missing. It has blossomed this past week, along with all of the other peer trees in the neighborhood. While it looks pretty, the smell is pretty bad.

If anyone here has had similar damage to their tree – did they try to repair it, and if so, what did you do and did you tree survive?

If you wound up replacing your Bradford pear tree, with what did you replace it?