From beloved to banished, cities and states are outlawing cultivars of the Callery pear, a popular, yet highly invasive, flowering tree.
You Could Get Paid to Remove an Invasive Callery Pear Tree
Published on Apr. 30, 2025
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Callery Pear Trees Are Problematic
Along the sidewalks of many towns, showy white blooms of Callery pear trees signal the arrival of spring. But they don’t bring a smile to everyone’s face.
“Pyrus calleryana has earned a reputation as one of the most despised flowering trees in the United States,” says arborist Kathy Glassey. “While it may seem attractive at first glance, these trees have turned out to be a significant environmental menace due to their rapid spread and harmful impact on native ecosystems.”
The many cultivars of Callery pears — including Bradford pear, Cleveland Select, Autumn Blaze, Whitehouse, Chanticleer and Aristocrat — have other downfalls as well. Up close, the flowers have an off-putting odor, which some describe as reminiscent of rotting fish. They also pose a property liability, since they’re prone to splitting and storm damage.
Check out more trees you should never grow in your yard.
How to Identify a Callery Pear Tree
Callery pears can grow to 40 feet tall, and tend toward round, gumdrop or pyramidal shapes. Their shiny, green, waxy leaves grow 2 to 3 inches long.
“These trees are actually quite beautiful landscape trees,” says Sharon Yielsa, a plant knowledge specialist at The Morton Arboretum. “In spring, they are covered with showy white flowers and in autumn they produce beautiful fall colors ranging from shades of purple to mixes of purple, yellow and orange.”
Why Did We Plant So Many Callery Pear Trees?
These Asian natives were introduced a century ago to save pear orchards from fire blight, which is a bacterial disease, but they didn’t catch on in landscaping until they were introduced commercially in 1961.
After that, their popularity quickly took root, especially in the Northeast, South and Midwest, where they were celebrated for their quick growth, tolerance to difficult growing conditions and attractive foliage and blooms.
Some HOAs even required them to be planted in every yard, and according to a 2015 survey, they were the third most popular species of tree in New York City.
What Went Wrong?
For decades, Callery pears were thought to be sterile, which is the case unless multiple cultivars are planted in proximity to one another. Once that started to happen, bees cross-pollinated them, which enabled the trees to produce their small, hard fruits. As birds ate those, the seeds spread far and wide.
Wild propagation started slowly at first, but by the 2000s, Callery pear trees were found widely disbursed along roadsides, open fields and forest edges, especially in the east and south. That’s problematic because their aggressive spread and thorny thickets quickly crowd out native plants and alter ecosystems.
“Callery pears tend to form dense monocultures and this lack of biodiversity makes ecosystems less resilient to pests, diseases and changing climate conditions,” says Kathy. “Plus, their ability to grow in a variety of soil types and withstand harsh conditions makes them difficult to control.”
Now that their harm has become apparent, a growing number of states and cities are banning these trees, and even paying people to get rid of them.
How to Get Rid of a Callery Pear Tree
The first step is to cut them down, preferably in late winter or early spring before the tree starts to bloom or produce seeds. Then, dig up the stump and/or apply herbicide to keep it from re-sprouting. Kathy recommends having this done by certified professionals, to avoid harming surrounding plants.
After the tree is gone, it’s also important to monitor the area for new seedlings. “These trees can sprout from seeds or from broken branches that have landed on the ground, so vigilance is key to preventing regrowth,” says Kathy.
Callery Pear Buyback and Elimination Programs
Many states and local governments offer incentives for getting rid of Callery pear trees and replacing them with native species.
A few examples:
- Hamilton County, Indiana, offers a $400 removal grant;
- New Albany, Ohio, offers $150;
- States, including South Carolina, Virginia, North Carolina, Kansas and Missouri will give free native trees to replace Callery pears.
These programs are ever-evolving, so to find programs in your area, check with state and local environmental agencies, department of agriculture extension offices, tree planting organizations like the Arbor Day Foundation and local nurseries and garden centers.
Native Flowering Tree Alternatives
Replacing Callery pears with native flowering trees not only inhibits their spread, but boosts local wildlife diversity, including insects and birds. Suitable alternatives vary by location, but in general Sharon and Kathy recommend:
- Redbud (Cercis canadensis), which thrives in many soil types and produces striking purple-pink blossoms in early spring;
- Flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), a staple in eastern woodlands, which produces white or pink blooms that attract pollinators; and
- Serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), which is a favorite of birds and offers delicate white springtime flowers and striking fall foliage.
To that list, Sharon adds white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus), yellowwood (Cladrastis kentukea) and Carolina silverbell (Halesia Carolina). Kathy also recommends American plum (Prunus americana), which further benefits wildlife with its edible fruits.
About the Experts
- Sharon Yiesla is an arboretum plant knowledge specialist at The Plant Clinic at The Morton Arboretum in Illinois, with 40 years of experience in the field of horticulture.
- Kathy Glassey is an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certified arborist and plant care expert at Inspire Green. She previously worked at numerous landscaping companies, including Monster Tree service.
Sources
- The Arnold Arboretum – The Rise and Fall of the Ornamental Callery Pear Tree
- University of Georgia Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health – Callery Pear
- AP News – Callery pears: An invader ‘worse than murder hornets!’
