What kind of tree is this in San Jose, CA

jkennedyh

We have a tree in our backyard that I would like help in identifying. For the most part, it is a wonderful tree. The only issue I have is during this time of the year it sheds like crazy. Attached are some pics. There is a white flower(?) type thing that constantly snow like crazy. Luckily it does not last but maybe two months of the year but during that time my allergies are crazy. So two questions:
1) what kind of tree is it?
2) is there anything that can be done to maybe get it not to blossom next year?

We live in San Jose, California and this tree is very common among all of San Jose. We just have no idea what it is. Any help would be appreciated.
thanks!
James

Attached Thumbnails

   

Bowani Siam

Hahaha snows like crazy.. Looks like a large leaf Privet (Ligustrum). If so, you just have to cut the flowers off OR cut the tree down. Damn weed!

dov

It's a Privet. Take it out, it'll just cause problems springing up everywhere in the garden and around the neighbourhood.

__________________

windthrown

Having lived and owned a home in Campbell, CA (next to San Jose) I can say that all types of privets are weeds there (same as up here). The birds will spread just as many privet seeds regardless of the tree being left there or not. I had a half dozen of them around my house. Some I just hedged up rather than remove. Palm trees were weeds there as well, as were maples, and the usual blackberry, morning glory, scotch broom, and the other typical invasive weeds here in the west.

dov

Strangely enough, we have most of the same pest species here in Melbourne, but with Cottoneaster, English Ivy and Sweet Pittosporum instead of palms, Maples and Scotch Broom.

__________________

windthrown

English ivy is so bad in Oregon that it is banned from sales at nurseries. That stuff is all over in the west US. Sales of and/or propagating Himalayan blackberry has been banned in Oregon for years, but trying to control that is just pissing in the wind. We also have European cutleaf blackberry here, but it is not as bad, and the native blackberries that are low growing that are ankle breakers. Scotch brooms are far worse for forest areas, and Portugese broom is moving in now as well. Also Star thistle is moving into pastures, and causing all kinds of problems with livestock. Tansy ragwort is also on the loose, and killing horses here. Then there are the evil bull thistle and Scotch thistles, nasty weeds with spines that go right through leather gloves.

That is just the plants though. Animals are as bad or worse. Mitten crabs are in the SF Bay and Sact'o Delta area, and green crabs are expanding there now. Zebra clams are in the lakes in California, Arizona and Nevada. African bees are moving up from So. Cal. and fire ants are in So. Cal. now too. Nutrias have moved into the river areas here in Oregon. They are like giant rats. Argentine ants have formed one giant colony in California now, driving out all the other native species. Some morons dumped snails from France into the Sact'o River over 100 years ago after realizing that they had the wrong species for eating. Snails are a garden pest here now as a result. The Spanish left pigs to go wild here over 300 years ago and they have been a manace ever since. Bullfrogs have moved into most rivers and ponds now.

Its a losing battle, at best. I spent 4 years trying to control the invasives on our 105 acre ranch in west Oregon. We sprayed, burned, tractored, plowed, weedwhacked, trapped and dipped to control the invasives. I have a better chance on my new one acre place, but the blackberries (5 different types) are trying to take over that place. I will have to start a log of the invasives out there.

jkennedyh

thank you all. this is all very helpful

dov

Blackberries had all but taken over large sections of the understorey in the forests where I grew up. Bushes 14 feet tall and just as wide were not uncommon, but now you just get the odd spray of it. The state government released a fungal pest called Blackberry Rust sometime around 1990 which has been incredibly successful in limiting the pest. Unfortunately the rust can affect Quince as well, but that's the only other plant I've ever seen it on.

One of our more successful biological controls.

__________________

sueann

The worst weed we had here was prickly pear. It was spread over around 10 acres of the property and we dug it out, poisoned it (but I started freaking out over hitting it with roundup as I was worried about the horses ), so just ended up spraying a large square with orange spray paint and working inside that square, pulling it out with long kitchen tongs (it leaves the ground easy, roots and all) then moving to another square when we'd finished.

It was only small prickly pear, most of it, about 3-5cm high and you had to scrape away years of leaf mulch from the gums to get to it. We'd put into piles and burn it.

It couldn't be left there as the horses and the dogs would end up with it on their noses or bodies and the filthy things stuck like glue..besides that it spreads like crazy if you leave it. I've picked it away millimetres from horses eyes. It's alive! and can move around if it gets on you.


I hate that stuff, thankfully I haven't seen any for 2 years now. We used to have a lot of fireweed as well, but have managed to get rid of most of that as well. I don't know what the proper name of the fireweed is but it's a straggly plant with yellow flowers, easy to pull out as well, it spreads into big clumps if you leave it and nothing eats it.

We borrowed 2 goats once to see if they would eat it, but they wouldn't.

windthrown

Someone tried that here, bringing in the rust from NZ and illegally releasing it in southern Oregon around 2005. It affected the local blackberry industry (huge in this state) for about a year and that was about all. It affected the wild blackberries for only about a year as well, and they have developed immunity. I sprayed all my cane blackberries (I had about 8 different types, logans were affected the most) in my garden with sulfur for two years and that got rid of the rust. Raspberries are immune. Wild blackberries here are now completely unaffected by the rust, and it is not an issue for cane berry growers any more. It swept through, and is now gone. Accordingly, blackberry rust is indiginous to Europe and was brought to North America with the berries, so they are not as affected by it here.

windthrown

Wow, that is weird. A cactus as an invasive species. Reading about it online it looks like the Brits purposely took it to Oz, and it became a noxious weed. They are indiginous to the south and southwest US. Around San Diego they are common, but not a weed per se. People eat them there all the time, and they are a favorite of the Latino population here. The official state seal and Mexican Coat of Arms is an Eagle perched on a prickly pear cactus. They also eat the leaves, after cutting off the thorns. They sell both at the local Mexican veggie stands. I never liked them myself. PITA to get the tiny throwns off the 'pears' and if one is left in there, you will find it with your tongue!

Therrin

We had lots of prickly pear out in Lake Hughes, Ca. You can scrape or burn the spiny needles off and then slice them up and use them in place of green beans in salad and such. And the fruit are pretty good, we made icecream with the fruits mashed and mixed in before, it can be pretty tasty.

dov

Interesting. It seems to still be working quite well here. We still get some blackberries of course, as biological controls generally cannot wipe out their host/prey species completely, but what we still have left at my parent's place is kept in check by the Kangaroos and Wallabies (they eat the leaves only unfortunately) and anything left after that I go around and remove manually once or twice a year.

__________________

treeshaveneeds

Trim it just before it flowers, or late spring to cut off the flower buds. BTW, the fruit is considered a plus for cardiovascular problems.

windthrown

No wild joeys here. But the deer here eat a good amount of blackberry. Not enough to really do a lot to keep it in check. I am convinced that blackberries are so successful becasue of the fruit (no one would have ever brought them here if they did not have tasty berries) and the scaffolding that the dead vines make. The dried up vines have hardly any wood content, but they remain razor sharp and stiff enough to make a mound/trellis that future vines can grow on. Highly defensive growth habit with sweet morsels offered to spread the seeds. I picked a paper box top full of them the other day near here. Then I ate them all.

Supposedly the Germans brought them from Asia to Europe, and then dragged them to North America, in that order. I am not sure how they got to Oz. They seem to have invaded the entire globe. I have spent so much time picking (and eating) Rubus armeniacus/discolor berries, as well as trying to erradicate them over the years here. Sweet evil. There is a huge mound of them ripening in the empty lot across the street here. Maybe a quarter acre of them. There is a mound at my new property festering as well, and I have been trying to get out there to erradicate them before they set their fruit. But that is a 20 foot mound growing over giant old junipers.

dov

Blackberries were introduced to Australia by Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, a mate of my great-great-grandfather. An amazing botanist, he identified a huge number of species and was a big force in educating people in the value of Australian native plants. Incidentally he's also the person who got Blue Gums introduced to California.

I really do wish that this particular German had left Blackberries at home though.

__________________

windthrown

All those Eucs in California are often a problem. With an understroy of BB's. They cut all the eucs down on Angel Island about 15 years ago to get rid of the damn things there. Many tree huggers were upset, but the botonists and native plant people were all happy. I cut many eucs down in Big Sur and burned them for heat. Here in Oregon people keep planting eucs, and every 10-20 years there is a deep frost and they all die. Last year we got into the low single digits F. and the ones that survived the low teens the year before all croaked. I have done several bids on removing dead eucs this year. Many people have held off, waiting to see if they recover. Heh heh heh. They are all stone dead this far north. In California there are so many eucs that there are many mew chance crosses, and some are considered new species.

heskey627

The Privet tree is really very nice and make your garden look more attractive. I have three of these trees in my garden.

Plant nursery

treeshaveneeds

I agree. We have a privet hedge at the front, currently shaped like a Sheppard, about 8-10 feet tall - gives lots of privacy, and slows down the odd car driving by. I don't care for the scent of the flowers myself, but my wife does, -- one more thing to keep her happy.

Bowani Siam

DIE PRIVET DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE!!!!!!! Nothin' but trouble - seedlings everywhere!!

dov

I concur.

__________________

windthrown

Privet? Its just a weed. It can make a nice informal or formal hedge. The birds love the stuff. Now, take English laurel around here. I chip tons of that stuff up. Invasive as all hell, huge leaves, and they commonly make that into ugly hedges here. I hate it, but... it pays me to cut it down and grind it up! Also compared to evil hawthorne, privet is easy to deal with. I so hate hawthorne. Also blackberry, and scotch broom. I think blackberry gets ground up in every chipping job regardless of area or job type or size.