Nominating Worst tree

[CombatNinja]

Trees are like livestock. They are nice to look at and can relax you at a distance. You just don't want any close enough to your house that you can actually smell them. Or deal with what drops.

 

[Brent T]

Sissoo. End of thread.

 

[dzahm]

I vote for sweet gum too- last one I pushed down with a track loader- It had so many damn balls I could 360 my zero turn (well thats not impressive- but I wasn't turning- and it was on a slope-)

To the poster re: persimmons- Have you ever had persimmon pudding? Its a southern thing- but you might want to give it a try- little old ladies here in the south can turn them into something IMHO might be served in heaven.

 

[consti2tion]

I'm really amazed no one has mentioned the Hackberry tree, they line every fence row here in north/northeast Texas. They are trash trees in my opinion. They drop leafs what seem like twice a year. They produce some black sap film that stains anything around them, sticky up the finish of your car with the dripping. It's a giant weed is what it is.

Also.. Bois d'arc / Osage orange trees are some of the ugliest trees. They drop those awful horse apples and the branches are riddled with thorns/spines. The wood is hard as hell and is a yellow color so it's fun to watch it pour out of a chainsaw. A lot of people I know have complained that they can dull a chain pretty quickly, but I have not had that experience in the two large ones I cut down. They do however try to come back and push branches out if you don't put something on the stump.

 

[dougf]

I'm currently battling Sycamore and Silver Maples in Missouri. Every time I mow there's little saplings sprouting up everywhere. I let three Sycamore saplings live last year, and now they are 20' tall next to the house. Probably way too big to transplant on the property line between the neighbor for privacy screening, and i'm sure he wouldn't appreciate the large leaves all over his driveway every fall.

 

[K'ledgeBldr]

I'm really amazed no one has mentioned the Hackberry tree, they line every fence row here in north/northeast Texas. They are trash trees in my opinion. They drop leafs what seem like twice a year. They produce some black sap film that stains anything around them, sticky up the finish of your car with the dripping. It's a giant weed is what it is.

Also.. Bois d'arc / Osage orange trees are some of the ugliest trees. They drop those awful horse apples and the branches are riddled with thorns/spines. The wood is hard as hell and is a yellow color so it's fun to watch it pour out of a chainsaw. A lot of people I know have complained that they can dull a chain pretty quickly, but I have not had that experience in the two large ones I cut down. They do however try to come back and push branches out if you don't put something on the stump.

I don’t really recall seeing “a lot” of hackberries- but definitely a lot of eastern red cedar/juniper- depending on who you’re talking to. I used to work ranches during the summer while a school and rode a lot of fence lines doing repairs.

 

[consti2tion]

I don’t really recall seeing “a lot” of hackberries- but definitely a lot of eastern red cedar/juniper- depending on who you’re talking to. I used to work ranches during the summer while a school and rode a lot of fence lines doing repairs.

The one's in Texas are sugarberry/sugar hackberry. I don't know where you went to school or where you worked on ranches, but in the area I live and have lived (East of Dallas) for nearly my entire life there are a lot. I can count at least 40 of them on a neighboring fence row going down my private road that's 100 yards long give or take.

There are a lot of cedars here that's is for sure.

 

[KenC]

To all those with trees that drop leaves or other dry fruits etc on the yard. Mulching deck and blades on your mower fixes that quickly. Good for the soil and much better than raking. Even sweet gum balls get ground up.
Red cedar get my vote for the absolutely worst tree. I'm sure you have heard of the huge fires in OK the last few years. Most have been fueled by those things. In hot weather they burn easily and intensely and grow touching one another if not controlled by the landowner. They create a dense shade that prevents grass or anything else from growing. Mile after mile in some areas, covering hundreds of acres. 50 years ago they weren't found East of I35, now they are spreading like crazy as birds eat and spread the seeds.

Not a yard tree usually, thank God, but a huge rural issue.

 

[consti2tion]

To all those with trees that drop leaves or other dry fruits etc on the yard. Mulching deck and blades on your mower fixes that quickly. Good for the soil and much better than raking. Even sweet gum balls get ground up.
Red cedar get my vote for the absolutely worst tree. I'm sure you have heard of the huge fires in OK the last few years. Most have been fueled by those things. In hot weather they burn easily and intensely and grow touching one another if not controlled by the landowner. They create a dense shade that prevents grass or anything else from growing. Mile after mile in some areas, covering hundreds of acres. 50 years ago they weren't found East of I35, now they are spreading like crazy as birds eat and spread the seeds.

Not a yard tree usually, thank God, but a huge rural issue.

That's how I handle the leaves from our trees, they get shredded into pretty fine pieces. I have mulching blades and a mulching kit on my old JD zero turn.

I have a few very large red cedar here on our property, they do not have low branches so grass does grow under some of them. Previous home had many that weren't pruned up so they were not ideal.

 

[barnee]

Second on the Black Walnut, especially since it tried to kill me last week

 

[Clutchsmoke]

Bradford pear.

 

[MFortie]

Lot of trees mentioned we don't have out here. But one that wasn't, and is actually a favorite of mine as well as a major pain because of the thorns -- Palo Verde.

Beautiful tree (IMHO anyway) and burns well. Just don't get too close. I hung a coupe yellowjacket traps in two of ours and I swear those damn thorns are invisible! And hurt like h-e-double hockey sticks!

 

[HenryAZ]

Lot of trees mentioned we don't have out here. But one that wasn't, and is actually a favorite of mine as well as a major pain because of the thorns -- Palo Verde.

Probably the green palo verde. We have some, and they grow nicely here in the desert. They also grow kind of like a mesquite, meaning the new branches head in all directions, out, up, down, or any angle in between. Regular pruning is a must. We also have a blue palo verde (just one). It is much less work. I have not pruned it in 20 years. Heavy long sleeve shirts and welding gloves are a must for pruning, and even then you will get stuck by a thorn or two. Same with mesquite.

 

[Clutchsmoke]

Bradford pear.

I take that back, the number one worst tree around here is the invasive Chinese Tallowtree. Those things spring up like roaches everywhere.

 

[ATC]

I had a chinese chestnut tree in my side yard when I bought the place. Quickly figured out it smelled 100% like *****, and my guests noticed that as well. Promptly cut that one down and replaced it with an Eastern Redbud.

Haha! I call 'em *** trees! There's a certain period of time in the Spring where I catch strong whiffs of them while driving around town with my windows down...

 

[billspit]

I take that back, the number one worst tree around here is the invasive Chinese Tallowtree. Those things spring up like roaches everywhere.

Bradford pears, which are supposed to be sterile, give rise to a hybrid pear that is terribly invasive and completely worthless.