Bradford Pear – Possible Damage

Q: About 3 years ago, I planted a Bradford Pear tree in my yard. It was a balled and burlapped tree and I thought I had removed all the string that was holding the burlap. Last year I noticed that I had missed some string. Before I found and removed it, the string had made an indentation, into the bark about one fourth inch deep all the way around the trunk. Will this tree survive or do I need to replace it

A: I think patience is the prudent answer here. How does the top of the tree look now? Are there lots of leaves or does it look thin compared to other Bradford pears? If the tree looks weak, you can assume that the string cut off a great deal of water transport to the top of the tree. If that is the case you can either cut your loses and remove it or you can baby it along this summer and see what happens next year. Trees have a remarkable ability to recover from damage to their bark if given half a chance. Water your tree deeply once a week this summer but do not fertilize it. By September you should be able to predict how things will turn out.