Amanda here. On a glorious day off yesterday, I found myself channeling my inner Bigelow*, fuming about the proliferation of Bradford Pear trees around Franklin, NC. Now, I’m not pointing fingers at the beautiful specimen gracing your yard in full bloom. I’m talking about those renegades sprouting along roadsides, fields, and hillsides— those are the naughty ones – invading our land and outcompeting the native plants that could be growing in their place.
So, how are they spreading? Believe it or not, it’s our friends, the birds. Birds feast on the fruit and, during their flights, disperse the seeds via their droppings. Ironically, native pollinators like butterflies don’t recognize Bradford Pear leaves as food and won’t lay their eggs on them. And guess who relies on caterpillars? Baby birds! It’s about all they survive on during their nest life. Someone needs to talk to the birds about this self-inflicted problem of creating food deserts during their chick’s most crucial feeding period.
Where do these invaders originate? Well, I told a little “porky pie” earlier. It IS all those beautiful, ornamental Bradford pears in our gardens and landscapes!
While your tree is undeniably beautiful, especially now when few others are in bloom, it’s more problematic than it appears. Many associate “invasive” with aggressive, fast-spreading plants like ivy. However, with Bradford Pears, the issue is subtler. Their offspring can emerge anywhere from 20 to over 500 feet from the parent tree.
What can we do? Well, ideally, we cut them all down. In North Carolina, some Extension Offices offer free native tree replacements for every Bradford pear you cut down on your property. Without that option nearby, however, removing these trees benefits our birds and natural spaces. Engaging neighbors and local businesses in this effort might help us to reduce the problem. We can also speak to other garden centers who sell them. It’s surprising just how much a few polite requests can make an impact on their buying decisions!
What should we plant instead? Of course, my answer is “something native”. However, there are numerous lovely, non-invasive, non-native plants that can bring equal joy. How about an actual pear tree, where you get to have your tree and eat it too? (You will need two cultivars though, as they like to cross pollinate in order to bear fruit).
For other native trees that will amp up the wow factor in your garden, support pollinators, and remain well-behaved in our natural spaces, you can’t go wrong with these:
Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.)
Serviceberries are small trees or large shrubs that produce fragrant white flowers in early spring, followed by edible berries in June and vibrant orange-red foliage in the fall. Unlike Bradford Pears, they support local wildlife by providing food for birds and pollinators throughout multiple seasons.
Redbud (Cercis canadensis)
Eastern redbuds are small, deciduous trees known for their striking pink to purple flowers that bloom directly on bare branches in early spring, before the leaves emerge. Their heart-shaped leaves and adaptability to various soil conditions make them both visually appealing and ecologically beneficial, offering early-season resources for native pollinators.
Dogwood (Cornus florida)
Flowering dogwoods are cherished for their showy white or pink blooms in spring, followed by red berries that attract birds, and reddish-purple foliage in the fall. As native trees, they play a crucial role in supporting local ecosystems by providing food and habitat for various wildlife species
If you noodle around, you’ll find there’s a ton of internet keyboard warriors out there on social media, criticizing Bradford Pears for their unpleasant odor (often likened to rotten fish, which may be your thing?), structural weakness (prone to breaking), and the presence of thorns. It’s almost as if they anticipated a band of native plant enthusiasts would rally with axes and chainsaws to remove them.
I’m not quite there, yet. But I’m not far away.
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*Adam Bigelow is one of our favorite speakers who leads many of our classes here at Winding Stair, inspiring such passion in folks like me that it’s not long before we start borrowing words from his vernacular and standing high on our soapboxes about the joys of native plants and the importance of feeding baby birds.