Ornamental pear in Southeast Tennessee is
becoming a nuisance on par with mimosa (Albizia julibrissin)
and tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima). We're talking about
not only the cultivar of Callery pear known as 'Bradford' but
also its cousins—'Aristocrat', 'Cleveland Select', and a host
of others. While it has a list of desirable traits: lovely white
spring blooms, little in the way of insect and disease prob-
lems, and a reputation of general hardiness, the fact that it is
so invasive is just too hard to ignore and condemns it to the
scrap pile of bad choices.
The Tennessee Exotic Pest Plant Council has listed it as inva-
sive and boy is that an understatement. It's not uncommon to
see large fields and fence rows covered with the white blos-
soms of newly sprouted volunteers in the spring. In our area
the fruit of these pears is eaten by birds; everywhere they
poop, a rever ted Callery pear sprouts up—complete with for-
midable thorns. In addition, once the pear trees reach 15 to
20 years of age they become candidates for serious splitting
due to included bark and weak crotches. It's to the point that
I refuse to plant them anymore and I don't allow contractors
to plant them on any city-owned proper ties, either. What was
sold as the "wonder tree" tree of thir ty years ago is now the
headache of today.
—Gene Hyde, City Forester, Chattanooga, Tennessee
Volunteer pears bloom along a fence line. Photo by Gene Hyde
www.urban-forestry.com 23
