Help ID this tree please?

[BarnyardChaos]

Just to complete information for this thread in case anyone stumbles across this thread in the future, I'm adding photos of the callery pear's flowers and fall foliage, from the public domain:

 

[nao57]

Wait... you are in Missouri right? Isn't pretty much anything considered invasive and going to grow out of control there? LOL

And in the pic I don't see a lot of other shade areas around that tree. You had a field around it with some fencing. Is that your only shade spot there? If its like that maybe you don't have to get rid of it right away. you could plant some other stuff there first. And if you are worrying about it spreading around just put goats where the saplings are coming up.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Wait... you are in Missouri right? Isn't pretty much anything considered invasive and going to grow out of control there? LOL

LOL yes, pretty much! I've been entertaining myself by identifying weeds and looking for their uses. You're right - most are invasive. We are doomed.
On the bright side, I do have an abundant and apparently limitless supply of chickory and many other edible plants all over the place

And in the pic I don't see a lot of other shade areas around that tree. You had a field around it with some fencing. Is that your only shade spot there? If its like that maybe you don't have to get rid of it right away. you could plant some other stuff there first. And if you are worrying about it spreading around just put goats where the saplings are coming up.

If it's the best spot for the chicken pen (it is), then I may be able to convince him to leave it for awhile. There's pasture on one side with cattle and a donkey, and surrounded by mowed lawn everywhere else for quite some distance. We also have a free-range herd of 6 goats that spend a lot of time around this tree. So there is hope until I can get some other shade trees established.

 

[nao57]

LOL yes, pretty much! I've been entertaining myself by identifying weeds and looking for their uses. You're right - most are invasive. We are doomed.
On the bright side, I do have an abundant and apparently limitless supply of chickory and many other edible plants all over the place

If it's the best spot for the chicken pen (it is), then I may be able to convince him to leave it for awhile. There's pasture on one side with cattle and a donkey, and surrounded by mowed lawn everywhere else for quite some distance. We also have a free-range herd of 6 goats that spend a lot of time around this tree. So there is hope until I can get some other shade trees established.

Hahaha. Thanks for the reply.

And yeah if you've got goats, in theory you could be clipping stuff off that's out of reach of the goats from whatever you don't like and want gone, bit by bit. Free forage. And then eventually its gone while you save on feed.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

Hahaha. Thanks for the reply.

And yeah if you've got goats, in theory you could be clipping stuff off that's out of reach of the goats from whatever you don't like and want gone, bit by bit. Free forage. And then eventually its gone while you save on feed.

There are some invasive, stubborn and fast-growing vines around here (kudzu?) that the goats just LOVE. I supplemented their feed all winter last year, every day, by chopping some off the trees and fences, and tossing it into their pen. Free green forage, even in winter. They couldn't get enough of the stuff.

 

[DLA]

Wait, what? NO WAY!!! Seriously?

It's a friggin' bradford pear? I had no idea.

My husband is all about removing invasive plants and trees; he's got a soft spot for conservation of natural areas, and I support him. There's a local nursery who'll pay you $30 for proof you've removed a bradford pear tree from your property. Or anyone else's, for that matter.

I once brought home a baggie full of seeds from a golden rain tree, because I thought the tree was beautiful and I wanted to plant some on the farm. He absolutely vetoed that idea and threw the seeds in our fire barrel - due to their invasive status with the Missouri Dept. of Conservation.

Thank you for the response. I'm amazed "callery pear" or "bradford pear" did not come up in all the tree identification searches I did.

But NOW what? He'll bulldoze that tree as soon as I tell him what it is, or as soon as he sees it bloom next spring. It's the only shade tree in that spot for the chickens. Darn it!!!

If you do get rid of it you could replace it with American Paw Paw tree (Asimina triloba). I have several of them on my property. Big leaves makes really nice shade, they don't get too tall and my chickens like the fruit in the fall, some people like the fruit too though personally I'm not overly fond of the flavor. Tastes kind of like banana custard? sort of...They grow pretty quickly and the deer don't eat them. I haven't found them to be overly invasive.

 

[nao57]

There are some invasive, stubborn and fast-growing vines around here (kudzu?) that the goats just LOVE. I supplemented their feed all winter last year, every day, by chopping some off the trees and fences, and tossing it into their pen. Free green forage, even in winter. They couldn't get enough of the stuff.

Wow. That's cool. Hay costs a lot. So every bit counts.