Bradford Pears Have Beautiful Blooms, But Have Better Alternatives

The blooming of the first Bradford pear trees marks the return of spring to the Upper Cumberland.

However, Overton Extension Agent Jason Garrett said that Bradford pears are not his first choice of tree to get a spring bloom.

“A pear tree, one might have noticed, they’re a really soft bark,” Garrett said. “they contain a lot of water and moisture in them and usually you start to see these trees break between 10 to 15 years old.”

Garrett said that the tree blooms tend to get people into a “spring fever”. He said people tend to start working their yards more, starting gardens, and gearing up for the warm months.

Garrett said that Bradford pears also have the tendency to cross-pollinate, and have recently created a somewhat invasive species.

“They’re not really the best choice for plants,” Garrett said. “Now if I was wanting a Bradford pear, we have another species called the Cleveland pear. And I always did like them better because they grew more upright in a cone-shape, with a pointed tip where a Bradford pear would be wider and have more volume. So the Cleveland pear would be my pick of the two.”

Garrett said that better options for blooming trees would be Yoshino cherry trees, dogwoods, or redbuds.