Bradford pear trees are my nemesis......help needed on stain removal.

Wife and I have been living in our home for the past 20 years.

We had the great idea of planting a pair of Bradford Pear trees next to the driveway when we moved in. They were all of 3ft tall, lol.

Now they tower 40'+ over the driveway. I've thad them trimmed back a time or two over the years, but now I'm done with them. Project for next Winter for me will be to cut 'em down and have the stumps ground. I simply hope we make it through the Summer storms without them blowing down and making a huge mess.



The latest aggravation with them is when they bloomed. There was some type of purple-ish stains that are all over my wife's off-white RAV4. My black Taco may have them....can't really see.

The stains have not come off with foam cannon + 2 bucket method washing using Chemical Guys V07 soap.

I tried some Rain-X bug & tar remover and it had minimal impact.

Any suggestions as to the next step for me to get these stains off ?


Thanks

 

Clay bar or nano autoskin first.

If that doest help, polishing compound, in a mild liquid form would be next.

 

Chop the trees down

 

What part of "Project for next Winter for me will be to cut 'em down and have the stumps ground" in his post did you miss?

 

Yep, I'd start with claying (or synthetic clay towel) and then a light abrasive polish by machine. Proceed to compound if necessary. Keep the polisher off painted fender flares if you have them, especially th upper edges (not crucial but advised).

 

You know, a good All In One like McKees 360 might even do the job.

Hard to say. Do a test spot and see what you're up against.

 

All of it since I didn’t feel like reading it. But some ppl liked the comment so my job here is done

 

Thank you @NMTrailRider & @Clearwater Bill

I'm going to proceed with caution and cuss a heap....but these stains have gotta go...as do the confounded trees.


Sorry to have overly taxed you with a reading chore @Clymber

 

My son in Chatt has a stump of a huuuuuge one on the line between him and a neighbor. While it would be possible to grind, it's in an awkward spot and would be big bucks.

Those things grow fast, but they are brittle and really need to be well away from structures and power lines.

Look nice when they bloom. As long as you don't park in blowing distance of the blooms.

 

I can't help any more than the others on the stains... but...

I can offer that bradford pear trees do, indeed, suck ass.
They smell bad, are impossible to kill (not quite as impossible as oleander, but close), they're messy, and I'm allergic to them!!!

 

Yup....I've learned my lesson for sure.

I distinctly remember wanting a pair of crepe myrtles instead. Wife wanted something different. Guess who won out ?

The irony of this situation could be that it's come back to haunt her....her car is the one that was punished.



On second thought.....I'm the one who's gotta get this crud off her car.

Agreed.

She and my son are on a road trip visiting some family this weekend. I'll be working on her car when she gets back on Sunday, I suppose. Pic forthcoming.




EDIT: best I can do at the moment.....this was a before pic I took last week before I washed them. You can see the junk on her car even though it's not focused really well in the pic.

You nailed it on the odor. I hate that aspect of them, too.

 

We planted two of these trees, when small, right next to the driveway and I parked underneath them. "Great trees" they said at the nursery, "they only get to about twenty feet tall and grow in a column like form", "great for along roadways too". They were ok for about 10 years years and all of a sudden started producing small fruit. They are not supposed to, only flowers. They also grew round to about 35-40 feet in height. Every morning I had to push and hose that fruit off the hood, windshield and cowl like snow, hundreds of them. That fruit stained the hood and roof very badly. Only a very good compounding would get it off. Left on long enough I'm sure it will ruin the paint. I cut the trees down, painted the freshly cut stump( about seven inches in diameter and two feet tall) with straight Ortho brush killer. I covered the stumps with black trash bags and kept them wet with the Ortho for about a week. I also drilled holes in the surface roots around the stump base and poured in the Ortho with a funnel. That killed them right to the roots.The fruit was slimy, stunk and persisted until after Thanksgiving at least. They are also very densely leafed, the last to drop leaves, and the wood is brittle and breaks easily. They are considered noxious plants in other parts of the world. Terrible tree in a yard, cut them down asap.

 

Are you gonna season those pear trees for some smoking?


Always clay bar first. Always.
If it does not come off with clay then its time to go with a polish. Chances are you’ll want to use a machine if you have purple staining on a white vehicle.

Hopefully by off white you don’t mean metallic white (pearl).

 

Yup.


Pearl.


I hate her color choice.

 

Unfortunately... thats almost worse than black LOL