Few trees flower as thickly as this one, and the hard little fruits that follow soften after frost for the birds. Bradford pear (Pyrus calleryana) was brought to America for its resistance to disease, yet its fast, brittle growth snaps in wind: prune it from youth into a single trunk and it earns its place.
| Name | Pyrus calleryana ‘Bradford’ |
|---|---|
| Family | Rosaceae |
| Type | tree |
| Height | 30 to 50 feet (9 to 15 m) |
| Exposure | full and part sun |
| Soil | no special requirements |
| Foliage | deciduous |
| Flowering | early spring to mid-spring |
Though increasingly regarded as invasive, in some gardens “Callery pear” is still worth keeping in good shape instead of pulling it out right away.
Fall is always the best season to plant ornamental trees. It gives the roots time to spread underground throughout the winter. Here is a quick guide to planting trees such as Bradford pear.
Site the tree well away from the house, driveway and parked cars, allowing for a mature height of 30 to 50 feet and a crown spread of roughly 20 to 35 feet.
Full sun gives the densest bloom; in shade the crown thins and branches stretch and weaken.
Bradford pear is an “all-or-nothing” tree when it comes to pruning. This means you should either not touch it at all for its entire lifetime, or, oppositely, start pruning it while young to shape it into a worthwhile specimen.
Indeed, branches tend to form clusters that compete with each other as the tree grows. Removing some of them after the tree has grown large will break the balance. The tree might appear gangly and deformed.
Always prune the tree in Fall, that way you’ll preserve the Spring blooming. Also, it’ll reduce the risk of having branches break off due to Winter winds.
The goal is to give the tree a classic single-trunk shape as high as can be.
It’s harder to succeed in “shrinking” a grown Bradford pear tree. Hatracking won’t do it any good. Best select and remove a couple branches on the outer portion of the cluster that seem to have the weakest joints.
You can tell a joint will be weaker when bark forms cracks and bulges between the branches.
Bradford pear is an all-or-nothing tree: either it is never touched, or it is shaped from its earliest years. Here is what each approach involves and what it leads to.
| Approach | When | What you do | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leave it untouched | Never | No cuts at all for the whole life of the tree | The clusters of competing branches keep their balance |
| Train the sapling | Autumn, repeated as the tree grows taller | At every fork keep the straighter branch and remove the other, letting less vertical side branches stay | A classic single trunk, as high as can be |
| Thin a grown tree | Autumn | Take out a couple of outer branches whose joints show cracked, bulging bark | Modest improvement only; removing too much leaves the tree gangly and deformed |
| Hatracking | Never | Cutting a mature tree back hard to shrink it | No benefit whatsoever to the tree |
Whichever route you choose, cut in autumn: it protects the following spring’s bloom and limits breakage in winter winds.
It’s a very resistant tree, especially against fireblight. This was actually the reason the tree was brought to the United States in the first place.
Indeed, it was hoped that through cross-pollination, this trait would be passed down to other common pear trees. Sadly, however, it wasn’t possible to single out an offspring that wouldn’t also lose its fruit-forming appeal…
What usually brings the tree down is old-fashioned wind, since the wood breaks off easily.
A very fast grower, the growth speed leads the tree to its own demise: it breaks into pieces under its own weight after reaching 20 to 25 years of age.
As a consolation, you can use the wood for woodworking and for firewood: it excels in both!
The common name, “Bradford pear”, actually honors an American horticulturist who specialized in early orchard experimentation, Frederick Charles Bradford. He graduated at the University of Maine, and led the Maryland Agriculture department station where this particular cultivar was identified and replicated.
However, the botanical name derives from the Italian-French missionary, Joseph Maxime Marie Callery. The Callery pear is one of over 2,000 species of plants he sent from China for study to Europe in the 1840s!
The history of the Callery pear tree is rather well documented, in part because it has become such an invasive tree in the United States (and Australia, too).
These mostly result, indirectly, from seeds gathered in China by Frank N. Meyer (of Meyer lemon fame), grown in Oregon by F.C. Reimer, and other batches from the region gathered in the early Xth century.
Many more exist. Interestingly, the original Bradford pear didn’t (and still doesn’t) have any plant patent protection on it, so propagation isn’t restricted. Other named varieties often do, however.
This tree’s wood is very brittle and can’t cope with wind. Don’t set up any swingset or sandbox under the tree, you’ll risk an accident with children if ever a branch breaks and falls!
