Here's why you should NOT plant a Bradford / Callery Pear tree!

Check out this article for more information on this species, including some native alternatives:
growitbuildit....
Bradford / Callery / Flowering / Cleveland Pear is an invasive tree in North America that takes over disturbed soils, meadows and early successional spaces. The tree spreads rapidly because birds eat the small pears during the fall and winter, and deposit the seeds around the area. The Bradford Pear, and any other invasive plant, should not be planted because it outcompetes our native, beneficial vegetation that our wildlife need. Our native insects cannot eat or use the tree or its leaves to complete their lifecycle, which ultimately means less insects for our birds, reptiles and other primary predators. A native tree will support many more insects and caterpillars, which are the primary food that birds need to raise their young.

[@CampingforCool41]

The stupid thing is there’s a million good trees with just as pretty or even prettier blooms. And some even get edible fruit. Plant serviceberries, apples, edible pears, peaches, cherries- they all get gorgeous blooms plus you get fruit.

[@seantheninjaassassin8218]

Since U.S commerce with Asia(China especially.)in general was poppin’. We were bound to be sold some landscaping shit we weren’t supposed to have growing here at all. I feel you and your frustration 😂

[@JonDeth]

But the callery gives us the stink of fresh, raw semen in the air.😂 A stench that really takes you back to your childhood!😂 ....your childhood at Michael Jackson's house!😂😂😂

[@crazycatlady39]

These are becoming illegal in MN now! The MN Department of Agriculture added it to their list of noxious weeds this year (2023). It’s in a three year phase out period and in 2026 it’s going to be totally illegal to plant them.

[@ericwanderweg8525]

You can never overstate how horrible these trees are in the US.

[@LordMondegrene]

Bradford Pear is the finest wood for kitchen utensils, like spatulas, ladles, spoons and mallets. It's non-toxic, crack resistant, tough, dimensionally stable, adds no taste or color to foods, and it's a dirt cheap invasive weed species. Git 'em, woodworkers!

[@NoNameAtAll2]

I thought this was a comment why to plant them to get the wood

[@LordMondegrene]

@@NoNameAtAll2 you don't HAVE to plant Bradford Pear. They reseed everywhere, choke out native plants with monocultures, and are all over city sidewalks, dropping their crappy fruit on your car.

[@JacobAldridge]

Good to know. I would have cut them down just to get rid of the smell.

[@toyotaprius79]

Lol Yes! ✊🔥

[@Bdigital9482]

@@JacobAldridgeis the smell the pungent odor I smell every spring from trees with white flowers??? Obviously not a plant specialist.

[@jeremybyington]

Most people do not put much thought into their tree selection. They drove by and saw beautiful blooms and wanted that. They found out it was a Bradford so they went and bought one. End of story. If you make it illegal to buy Bradfords, then people will say “Oh, that sucks I can’t buy that tree, but this serviceberry looks beautiful too, let’s just get that.”

[@TheNightshadePrince]

No people will just gather seeds and grow it anyway, if making plants illegal worked than people wouldn't grow their own cannabis but this is still very much a thing.

[@jeremybyington]

@@TheNightshadePrince Yes, some Bradford Pear enthusiasts will still be out there, but they won’t be getting their plant materials from retailers. Stopping the average homeowner from purchasing them will be massive progress.

[@stephenkostkowski8448]

@@TheNightshadePrinceI think you are correct to some extent. But the vast majority of people who are uninformed enough to plant these are not going to be savvy enough to start them from seeds or cuttings. Also, callery pear does not have near enough to recommend it as cannabis.

[@TheNightshadePrince]

@@stephenkostkowski8448 If growing Calgary pears makes fascist angry I will grow a whole grove of them, the counter culture is about deifying fascists. Also growing trees from cutting and root stocks are easy if you have a bit of persistence and anyone who is an experienced gardener can easily over come such challenges.

[@careyjohnston4176]

The bradford pears have totally out competed everything else in Arkansas too.

[@jenniferferraro1062]

They smell awful, too.

[@larrman5409]

What do they smell like?

[@CricketsBay]

Kinda like dead fish. The flowers/pollen smell BAD.

[@mikef1570]

Mine don’t smell.

[@cptkirkpyro5656]

@@CricketsBay I've had one in my front yard for almost 30 years. I can confirm they have a slightly sweet botanical smell and the blooms last just a couple days.

[@fruitoftheanus]

They smell like spooge. Hawthorn blooms smell similar, and were/are used as magical items to promote fertility.

[@jamesmacfarlane3196]

I just cut down a bunch of them today. I got to see many maples and pine saplings beneath them starting to grow which gave me some enthusiasm

[@botanicaltreasures2408]

Callery pears are down here also in South Carolina. Why do poachers never target invasives? Perhaps callery pear saplings should be all be turned into expensive walking sticks. It seems to me that large nurseries and big box stores are the last to know (or care)about invasive plants.

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

I’ve read that callery pears make great root stock for grafted fruit trees. Maybe we should all grow other fruits instead! And yes, that’s true. As long as people buy it, most nurseries don’t care how invasive a plant is sadly 😞

[@botanicaltreasures2408]

@@Andrew_the_Arborist I agree with you. I wish nurseries would sell native crabapples instead pretty pink blossoms in the Spring and cherry red leaves in the autumn. In my view any ornamental in the landscape besides not being invasive should have at least two seasons of beauty and feed local wildlife. 🐝🐛🐦🦌

[@CricketsBay]

The wood is great for carving, especially kitchen utensils.

[@CricketsBay]

I wish nurseries sold native crabapple as well. My great grandparents had a huge old native crabapple tree when I was a child. The crabapple got as big around as a quarter, at least, and they were edible. The crabapples were dark yellow with an orange or even red blush on one side when ripe. I've never been able to find another tree like it, and sadly that tree got destroyed when the land was sold.

[@JayYoung-ro3vu]

Nurseries and big box retailers sell what people want to make sales. I remember the glowing reviews for planting Bradford pears in the cities in the late '80-early '90s. Needless to say, only species that liked the pears were starlings because of the dense canopy to congregate to hide from predators.. Left their mess too. I worked in a nursery a few years Katerina and the science was catching up with propagation. Growers knew the tree was "trash" but "everybody" wantedthem. Employer/former started propagating or buying in less as years went on. Could see it in their fields.

[@chuck-jy7mz]

They plant this tree all over the city of Philadelphia. I had one in front of my home and the branches kept splitting. It has nice blooms in early spring but that's about the only good thing for me.

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

Its so sad because when you go to half of these garden places over 90% of the plants they sell for yards are foreign!!!

[@PsRohrbaugh]

I hope with your channel blowing up in the algorithm you make more content!

[@blinkroot8]

I hope so too, I love trees (in the right places) xd

[@lazytub]

I enjoy your channel. I'm glad I found it.

[@Andrew_the_Arborist]

Thanks, Kevin! I appreciate it :)

[@bobk80]

As a woodworker and turner this tree is great, the wood looks good darkens with age and is plentiful. The spalting is nice also carves well. As a matter of fact I picked some up today just freshly cut. I understand the environmental issue but I like the wood.

[@The_Ultimate_Ground_Of_Being]

What you like is far from relevant.

[@elfchild9]

No no, that's great news. Sounds like you could chop some good wood in Pennsylvania and improve the environment at the same time! The worst invasives are the ones we can't find good uses for. If humans like to use them, we can at least act as a "predator" and keep the population in check.

[@iyaayas]

​@@elfchild9Agreed. I just started following this channel and am now learning what to cut down, plant, and the potential impacts and why. Makes me want to get furniture or carvings made from thism I could see the Amish taking advantage of the materials and our need to get rid of it (if we can).

[@HamsterPants522]

​@@The_Ultimate_Ground_Of_BeingOn the contrary, the least pretentious thing to do is to speak for yourself. Perhaps that's not 'relevant', but then relevancy becomes something beyond an individual affair.

[@johnydriessen6813]

I just bought a house with two large Bradford Pears. I want to replace them, but i also like having established trees after so many years of renting. 😢 I DO plan on seeding native wild flowers into the drop off behind my yard to further provide for local pollinators though. Every little bit...

[@mrparts]

They’re weak wood and short lived. They will crack in the center after a storm and that’s your chance of getting rid of them.

[@johnydriessen6813]

@@mrparts I'll keep that in mind. I've actually seen that occur with many of the city's Bradford Pears, now that you mention.

[@curtissclark7805]

The Bradford Pears in southern Indiana are pretty much everywhere now. Uncut fields, forest edges, along the interstates and highways, fence rows etc. They really have spread quickly in the last twenty years. I remember when there was none here.

[@quentinlee2134]

It is also structurally unsound and at 20yrs maturity will rip itself apart at the first branch split.

[@typrus6377]

Sounds like the damn Chinese Laquer trees all over my subdivision down here... makes the cottonwoods I grew upwith seem like live oak

[@TheNativeTwo]

We have bradford pear here in California too, but it doesn’t spread. Privets on the other hand…

[@abnormal_asian5320]

thanks andrew! Very informative

[@animalpower7315]

I grew up in a town with a park with Bradford pears. They never took over anything where I lived.

[@charlieretro]

Same with mine its not took nothing over and it has had everything thrown at it wind and blizzards seem to do nothing to it I've had more issues with Pine and Tulip trees.

[@aquariusmoon771]

Thank you for sharing important information 🌞

[@evilsharkey8954]

I bought what was labeled as a fruit pear, but it turned out to be one of these damn spunk smelling weeds!

[@ericwanderweg8525]

You could cut off the top and use it as grafting stock for other pear species 😎

[@evilsharkey8954]

@@ericwanderweg8525 I’ve tried grafting branches from the ancient pear on the property, but I stink at grafting and they all fail.

[@leaf2180]

Ye, a tree isn't a weed. Whether you like it or not, it's still a tree. You prolly call dandelions weeds, too.

[@evilsharkey8954]

@@leaf2180 Yeah, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Any plant that’s growing where it isn’t wanted is a weed. I don’t have a yard, but if I did, I’d leave the dandelions unless they took over. I’d mix in native plants and white clover, too. They get kicked out of my garden, though, since they crowd out my other plants. I had to remove a lot of common milkweed, a native monarch host plant, and tall goldenrod (native and pollinator friendly) because they were completely taking over my vegetable garden, making it impossible for the peppers to get going. I left some for the bugs, but some had to go to make space. Callery pears are notoriously weedy and invasive. They get where they don’t belong and crowd our native plants and better plantings. There are much better trees to plant than those awful things, like native crabapples.

[@leaf2180]

@@evilsharkey8954 tldr: trees are not weeds. They can be invasive, but they are not referred to as weeds. That doesn't make sense. A weed is a weed. A tree is a tree.

[@goldiegolden2254]

Birds, like blue jays love the fruit and have food during the winter.+ side

[@Cinnaray]

And they hurt. (Removed young Bradford Pear trees for a month and a half) I had no idea they could develop thorn-like branches when they’re young. Got me through two layers of pants.

[@jamescaneda9515]

My first choice is the Mulberry but city ordinance banned them. So I planted the Cleveland Pear and the Bradford Pear too.

[@RogueA.I.]

There were a ton of these planted in my neighborhood in the 90s. By the mid 2000s they all split in half and had to be removed. Good riddance.

[@mrparts]

Yes. They grow fast and die fast. Weak wood and branching

[@JC-il4or]

Add to that is when they age, they can split, and they sprout all over your lawn. We have 3 that we are trying to phase out in our Texas yard. They also drop staining berries for fall. Aargh!!

[@catbirdler]

That's exactly what happened to mine, it split a few years ago and has been struggling ever since, suckers sprouting from the roots etc. I also have been picking out mysterious seedlings from the lawn over the years and couldn't figure out where they were coming from. I have a feeling your comment just provided me with the answer! I'll go out and compare leaf shape to confirm but I think you've given me my eureka moment. Thanks and this gives me one more good reason to take the tree down.

[@MiguelY22]

Thanks for the video lesson. I saw a photo of those trees and liked it. Now i know they dont benefit our environment. Plant more native trees

[@Cardoo46]

I think my neighbor lined his driveway with these trees many years ago, at least 30 years ago.

[@mikeb1039]

Not to mention incredibly trashy tree. They grow VERY fast and have weak branches that fall like rain in any decent winds. Royal PITA to have in your landscape.

[@leaf2180]

I have 2 bradford pears and 3 Cleveland pears. They've survived everything nature has thrown at them. Including strong windstorms, ice storms, blizzards, tornadoes, hurricane force winds, etc. It's not the tree. It's how you take care of em.

[@Lylaris_or_Garuk]

Seriously yall DO NOT PLANT ONE! Any wind above 40MPH obliterates them! Im a weather enthusiast and I’ve seen almost 10+ Bradford Pears completely collapsed due to windstorms/Squall lines with winds of 50MPH or above. Not only are they invasive, they are also very weak trees in storms that will eventually damage property

[@IsaBetaBug]

Great video!

[@damianlopez7630]

There seems to be a woodworker's use for the wood. Making utensils.

[@acerodons6036]

ohhh you are an insta subscribe for just this alone

[@SoNoFTheMoSt]

People plant them in urban environments in the UK and they dont spread at all, really crazy how they are so invasive in the US.

[@rezayaseri2790]

currently we need to plant any sort of plants, native is the best but we can harmonize with non native, for example walnuts and mulberries were native to Persia (Iran) but nowadays it spreads all over the world

[@alexgg7499]

I hate them smell bad and create too much pollen

[@kepler180]

my parents have 2 in their yard but i doubt they’ll cut them down cause they’re bigger than the house and they’re trying to sell the house in 2 years

[@miwakey6291]

Really?! I was about to plant two of these trees in my backyard!

[@heidih.2465]

👏👏👏👏♥️♥️♥️♥️Plant native!

[@Mothernatura]

is it so hard to also include taxnomical name for non locals?

[@zoezzzarko1117]

As a landscape designer... I NEVER use this tree in my designs. It is... SO OVER PLANTED in landscapes in NY state by clueless landscapers

[@Matty002]

its so funny to read comments from people saying they like the wood so why take them out, not realizing how selfish they sound. not thinking about the environment as a whole is why the planet is so messed up

[@papaarmo5028]

I hate those trees with a passion

[@rich4501]

Maybe somebody could answer this question for me because I never fully understood. “Native Plants” Weren’t all plants, at one time, not native to an area?? Plants get transferred by animals, by insects, they move to new areas and sometimes outcompete other species, possibly even causing species to go extinct. But that’s survival of the fittest? Plants, animals adapt to their environment, or die off. We’re trying to preserve native species and meanwhile the earth is being thrashed by climate change. Couldn’t the argue be made that we should just let any plant grow where ever it wants to grow? I know the answer is far more complicated than that, but I think I’m just misunderstanding what is so great about native plants?

[@cptkirkpyro5656]

So you're telling me its a beautiful tree that also kills bugs. super glad i have one in my front yard. though it is huge and they are soft so I think it's just one strong storm away from splitting.

[@cptkirkpyro5656]

It's almost 30 years old and Ive never had to fight any new growths.

[@sharryjones5200]

The Bradford was really popular in Georgia for a while until the trees started maturing and splitting apart, causing a good bit of damage to landscapes and homes. Obnoxious plantings!

[@wdwerker]

They split and crack during storms and snow/ice conditions. Now your mature landscape tree is a big hole, make a better choice ! The smell in the spring is awful

[@lpawlowicz3077]

Why are invasive plants allowed to be sold? Tax those weeds!

[@seantheninjaassassin8218]

It was brought here multiple times, once in Harvards famous tree museum the Arnold Arboretum, and another time by the USDA to fight against a disease epidemic among common pear trees, another tree that isn’t native to America. Needless to say, the trees have overstayed their welcome and the flowers smell like ass.

[@Yony42]

Maybe they should build a wall

[@InertFoxtrot117]

Could we not just start chopping down Bradford pear trees? Put a bounty on them or something. $20 per tree cut down in wildlands, like bounties on invasive animals

[@tjmarx]

Gosh, imagine the widespread famine and undernutrition if only regionally native plant species were ever planted. Can you imagine the price of food? I'm not sure one can really call your suggestions alternatives. They're not food, or at least not food people want to eat and those are essentially the same thing. Pears are.

[@chrisester2910]

Bradford pears do not produce food for people.

[@tjmarx]

@@chrisester2910 You appear to have missed the point of my comment. Thanks for stopping by though

[@fruitoftheanus]

How do you think native folks on the American continents got along before exposure to foreign crops? They didn't all starve to death. There are many, many, many native plants, across every region of the world, that can be used as food by humans. There are starchy tubers, productive grains, and delicious fruit everywhere. We have streamlined our global food supply to consist of only a handful of crops, but that was not always the case. If you need examples of native crops that once saw widespread use in the states, just say the word.

[@tjmarx]

@@fruitoftheanus roflmao. So your big argument is to look back to a time pre-european colonisation when the the best estimates for population size across the whole of North America at somewhere between 800K and 2.4M. Consisting of small nomadic regional tribes that followed their meat source and did not engage in significant agricultural activities. Then you want to make a further flawed argument about the narrowing of agricultural production without understanding scale and yield. According to the US Census Bureau there are 335.2M people in the continental USA in 2023. That population size is ONLY sustainable through large scale industrial farming of GMO high yield, short growth time crop and industrial farming of livestock. lol. What you're suggesting would directly lead to a large scale famine.

[@kethmu469]

This isn't b02 on the Wii U

[@litiviousspartus4611]

Why are they not banned! Those damn trees are all over the sides of highways and I've seen old fields and they were the only tree growing in the fields. I hate those trees!

[@1neAdam12]

What I find interesting is the emphasis on how they will out-compete native species, yet, the US basically has an open border policy as of 1965 (Hart Cellar Act) which has done more damage to our species, than the Bradford Pear has to others.

[@justaguy11131]

How is that at all relevant to this video? Take your xenophobia elsewhere.

[@1neAdam12]

@@justaguy11131 Please, take your xenophilia someplace else. We're full.

[@leaf2180]

I have 2 bradford pears and 3 Cleveland pears in my yard. I don't really notice the smell anymore. Unless I go right up next to the flower. They've also survived strong windstorms, ice storms, tornadoes, hurricane force winds, etc. It's not the tree. It's how you take care of it.

[@catbirdler]

They are known for having weak branches that shear off. I have one at the side of my house that lost a major branch - about a third of the tree - during Superstorm Sandy and the unusually late ice storm that followed it. The tree was only about 20 years old at the time. It never really recovered and I'm thinking to take it down. Maybe you just got lucky with yours.

[@leaf2180]

@catbirdler I mean... hurricane Sandy did a lot of damage. So you can't really call em weak cuz of that.

[@catbirdler]

@leaf2180 that's true, but it's a species more prone to do so under adverse conditions than other trees. This is a known problem. That's not to say it'll happen with every Bradford Pear, it just means it will happen more often than with other trees.

[@westvirginiaglutenfreepepp7006]

Bradford pears are not just non native, the cultivar was created specifically to be an ornamental tree. It's basically a man made menace

[@seantheninjaassassin8218]

It’s not even attractive smelling. When your main scent description is “semen and vomit,” that only proves people want you for your looks.

[@chadparsons50]

Also, do not plant Russian Olive.

[@theAntwon24]

The flowers also smell horrible

[@XSpamDragonX]

Gallflies are still the creepiest and most disgusting thing I've ever accidentally encountered

[@masteraus66]

They are just weak crappy trees in general

[@TheNightshadePrince]

I think you're wrong because you're not looking at the ecology as a whole but only looking at a small area. Meadows aren't natural in the eastern U.S. All the rust belt states were lush old growth forests. Invasive trees help take back more area than their native counter parts which get the native plants a foot in the door to spread to new environments. An oak can grow slowly in the undergrowth until the pear tree dies in 25 years. What this is doing is using invasive plants to rewild and allow other plants to take root. Forest start with fast growing trees(pine, cottonwood,maple) and are slowly replaced by longer living trees (oak, redwoods,hickory). The important thing is that rewilding is happening and that invasive species are stopping habitat destruction. I think messing with the ecosystem by banning plants is highly immoral and does much more damage than letting them grow and then cutting the native trees for lumber in fourty years when the ecosystem is actually stable and if Pennsylvania like Ohio you guys should be plant as many trees as possible to fix the environment. Banning trees make this a billion times worse!!!!! :)

[@justaguy11131]

Sure, invasive plants may grow faster than natives, but they can also cause a lot of damage to the ecosystems they're introduced to. Why not just use native primary succession trees? They support more wildlife than non-natives do, and they don't run the risk of damaging ecosystems.

[@seanwebster3816]

There are plenty of fast-growing native trees that offer much more ecological value and will be around much longer as well. Just in my neighborhood alone, there are sycamores, black walnuts, pin oaks, silver maples, and cottonwoods that grow as fast if not faster than the stinky bradford pears that have popped up in all my neighbors’ yards from the pear-lined cul-de-sac down the street.

[@TheNightshadePrince]

@@justaguy11131 Any proof that this species actually causes damage to the ecosystem, if it's flourishing it must be doing something right. Invasive plants tend to be much less harmful than invasive animals. There are very few invasive plats that are a net negative to their ecosystem(ex: tumble weeds) invasive animals on the other hand can do serious harm like emerald ash bore, fire ants, pythons, etc. A tree that doesn't live even a quarter of a century is not a threat. :)

[@TheNightshadePrince]

@@seanwebster3816 Yeah Poplars are the bestest fast growing tree family but if a flowering tree is what gets people to plant a tree in their yard than I say go for it, Banning this tree is only going to make things worse because people are still going to want the look and they're are worse trees they could plant(black thorn and honey locust). Honestly our stupid government needs to give tax credits for trees on your land. Why can't our government take common sense measures to help the environment? They only prose stupid stuff or things that in the long run create more of an environmental impact than if just stayed out of it. :)

[@seanwebster3816]

@@TheNightshadePrince I live in Ohio where the state government has banned this tree. I’m glad it’s been banned, it’s a common sense decision that will help the environment. People who want an ornamental tree have plenty of native options - dogwoods, magnolias, redbuds, etc. And thanks to videos like Andrew’s, people will also understand that there’s a lot more to consider than looks when it comes to trees.

[@TheBen9701]

who cares the bradford pear looks great. your opinion is invalid, tbh i think ill go but a few thousand seeds

[@dungeonmaster6292]

"native" lol how far back are we talking? "Native" means nothing. Nature will balance it out. Always does.

[@The_Ultimate_Ground_Of_Being]

I'm cutting down the one my father planted. Putting an umbrella magnolia tree in its place.

[@Jeremy_936]

You can graft a pear tree onto Callery pear stock and save yourself years. The Callery is very hardy and it sounds like it has an established root system. Within a couple of years you'll have a very hardy, drought resistant, fruiting pear tree.... without the wait.

[@The_Ultimate_Ground_Of_Being]

@@Jeremy_936 it's a Bradford pear tree that I need to cut down. But, I appreciate the information, mate.

[@catbirdler]

@@The_Ultimate_Ground_Of_Being Bradford pears are a cultivar of Callery pears, so in a sense, they _are_ Callery pears.

[@Jeremy_936]

PS: Callery and Bradford are the same tree. Bradford is just a cultivar of Callery.

[@Ultrapro011]

what did you do in the end?

[@fuckdyoud2734]

Was probably some sensationalist type landscaper like yourself who got everyone to plant em LOL.