KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — As it gets a little warmer out you may have noticed some trees are budding, particularly white Bradford pear trees. While these trees can be aesthetically pleasing and a good indicator that spring is on the way, Bradford Pears are quite harmful to Tennessee ecosystems.
“Where that grows, anything else can’t,” said Stanley’s Greenhouse manager Abby Stanley-Jerrolds.
The Bradford Pear Tree is native to Asian countries and have proven to be an invasive species here in the U.S.
“They choke out native species in the landscape. They choke out any other species in the landscape. You think of Kudzu right? Like those are problems,” said Stanley-Jerrolds.
These trees grow quickly and spread rapidly, crowding out native plants, trees, and grasses.
“It really caught on with landscapers, people like things that just shoot up. It was so fast-growing because of that invasive nature,” said Stanley-Jerrolds. “Once those trees grow, then that ecosystem totally changes. I mean it’s a big chain reaction right.”
They are also a very unstable tree with shallow roots and weak branches that can’t support each other, making them prone to crack and fall after adverse weather.
“The trees, you’ll notice if you look at them. They don’t branch out and support each other as much as others and so they just tend to crack,” said Stanley-Jerrolds. “The odds of it falling on your house, your car, your child, anything or just you having to clean up after it after a storm are much higher than any other tree that we have around here.”
The greenhouse manager also said Bradford Pear trees are a variant of the Callery Pear tree, which can grow thorns large enough to puncture tires.
“That’s a problem especially for farmers,” said Stanley-Jarrolds. “Because it eats up their tractors, they can’t mow their fields, it takes it over, and its just – I mean its just a big problem and that just aside from it being invasive and choking out native species in the landscape which are so important to biodiversity.”
Because of their invasive nature, places like Stanley’s Greenhouse refuse to sell them, and discourage planting them at all.
“There are so many other beautiful spring blooming trees that don’t pose these issues,” said Stanley-Jerrolds.
These include a variety of trees that are native to Tennessee like Cherry Trees, Redbuds, and Dogwood trees that bloom a bit later.
As far as getting rid Bradford Pear trees go, Stanley-Jerrolds said the best way is to just cut them down.
“Cheapest way? Chainsaw. Get one, get someone who can use one, cut that thing down, and you can paint the stump with brush killer. That should do the trick,” she said.
