What’s that Smell?

She may be pretty, but it hits you like a wave of ocean spray. Oh wait. That’s not right.

It hits you like rotting fish. Yeah. That’s it.

Bradford pear trees may be gorgeous when they’re blossoming, but in case you were wondering what that fishy smell is in downtown Metuchen these days…



It’s the Bradford pear trees that line the streets.

Bleah.
(Plenty of other reasons to hate Bradford pear trees on my Bradford pear page. Have a look.)

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 22nd, 2007 at 5:57 am and is filed under julie's trees and tagged with downtown trees, metuchen. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

17 Responses to “What’s that Smell?”

1. jules says:

   December 2, 2007 at 12:28 pm

   Hi Ed.
   The Aristocrat also smells, but mine doesn’t smell as badly as the Bradfords. Hope that helps.

   Reply
2. Ed says:

   November 30, 2007 at 1:02 am

   Does the Aristocrat Pear also smell? I was thinking about planting one of those but would rather not if it had a bad smell.

   Reply
3. Jessica says:

   September 12, 2007 at 2:37 pm

   My entire subdivision is planted with these trees…every house has two in the front yard. I can’t wait for mine to blow over so I can plant a native species instead. Maybe I’ll help out a bit with my Stihl.

   Reply
4. Rod says:

   May 7, 2007 at 8:41 am

   I’m not sure if the bartlett and anjou are considered ornamental – they are fruit bearing. The bartlett actually delivered 1 very tastey pear in it’s 1st year planted. (tree is about 6′tall)
   I noticed that the flowers were almost scent-less or fragrant free last spring. I guess I’ll soon find out. If they are really bad I’ll remove them and plant 2 Autumn blaze maples (40′ apart) – I also have 4 dwarf apple trees (empire and golden delicious) 2 crab apples and a few white pine. I have a large south facing back yard (about 150′ x 100′) I’ll take a photo and send along – I hope I haven’t created a forest. If things start to get crowded – I’ll offer them free to neighbours who haven’t planted anything yet.

   Reply
5. Jules says:

   May 2, 2007 at 8:53 am

   Hi Rod. I’m not certain of it, but I would expect that any ornamental pear tree would have the same scent. It took mine several years in the ground before I noticed the fish smell, and some years it’s worse than other years.

   Reply
6. Rod says:

   May 1, 2007 at 8:58 pm

   Do the Bartlett and Anjou Pear trees have the same problems with bad smelling flowers ?
   I just planted these about 20′ apart in my back yard. Ottawa ON. Canada

   Reply
7. Jules says:

   April 24, 2007 at 6:57 pm

   Jeff, you’re cracking me up! You went out of your way to check out the smell! How cool is THAT? Anyway, it wasn’t all that bad today. It’s worse when the humidity is high. And I think some people notice it more than others. But I was downtown today too, and didn’t smell a thing, so today was a good day! Thanks for checking in. I think that’s sweet.

   Reply
8. Jeff Beckman says:

   April 24, 2007 at 6:08 pm

   I took a short detour this afternoon to experience Main Street. Perhaps, I may have noticed a feint smell in the air from the Bradfords, but mostly there were aromas from something cooking from one of the restaurants in the first block. I paused in the second block, sniffed hard, but got nothing. Admittedly, it was probably less than a one minute exposure and I then was back on the Lincoln Highway, which seems to also have many Bradfords.

   I don’t own any pear trees, but think they look remarkable

   Reply
9. Bill says:

   April 23, 2007 at 3:21 pm

   I also hate this about them… when a strong wind comes along or maybe an ice storm, (which we have here in the South often enough to be a pain), they lose a limb or three and all of a sudden, they are only “half a tree” or less. The tree owners around here unfortunately seldom cut them down at that point. Give me a tall majestic beech tree any day.

   Reply
10. Nataly Lemus says:

    April 23, 2007 at 1:09 pm

    Oh but they are sooo sooo beautiful! The photo of the trees is awesome! Looks like winter wonderland.

    Reply
11. Leah says:

    April 23, 2007 at 10:03 am

    Julie – love the pics. We were out of town for a few days and returned to find main street in full bloom. It was 75 degrees but it looked as though it had just snowed. White, fluffy and gorgeous. I can get over the smell since it looks so darn pretty. I just love living here.

    Reply
12. Jules says:

    April 23, 2007 at 8:49 am

    Don’t believe me about the bad qualities of Bradford pear trees? Read what arborists and foresters have to say about them here. And also here. And here’s another, from the USDA Forestry Service. Ok, and this one’s from the EPA. I could go on and on all day finding endless resources that advise against planting these trees. Now if only I could follow my own advice and cut mine down, I could stop being a hypocrit. (I am weak-wooded; I have a hard time killing living things.)

    Reply
13. Jeff Beckman says:

    April 22, 2007 at 11:08 pm

    I can’t smell them at all. I think they are perfect in every way.

    Reply
14. Beth Crook says:

    April 22, 2007 at 9:54 pm

    Ha! You learn something new every day! I would have never guessed that they stink.

    Reply
15. Carrie Viohl says:

    April 22, 2007 at 1:19 pm

    Hahahhah! This is a hilarious, and awesome entry!!

    The Germans have a similar problem with Female Gingko trees… they are gorgeous, but the smell …rude.

    I love your photos, especially the tips of the trees against the blue sky!

    Reply