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A partridge in a pear tree might be what your true love gave to you on the first day of this Christmas, but unfortunately, I have to be the bearer of some bad news. Pear trees aren’t exactly in high regard, and if you did in fact get one this year (or any previous year, at Christmas time or otherwise) you might want to look for an opportunity to exchange it for a more desirable gift. Let me explain. Pear trees, specifically the ornamental cultivar Bradford pear, are looked down upon by many modern gardeners, landscapers, and conservationists for a number of reasons. We’ll get to all those in a minute, but first let’s start with the positive attributes of these trees. Bradford pears, and ornamental pear cultivars that are part of the Pyrus calleryana or Callery pear species, are prolific blooming, early flowering trees, with white blossoms that last for about two weeks. They also sometimes have a fleeting bit of fall color, typically reddish-purple. That’s it, the full list of positive attributes.
Above, left: In the spring, the branches of the Bradford Pear tree are covered with foul-smelling white flowers. Photo: J. Robbins, CC BC-NC-ND 4.0 Above, top right: While visually appealing, the flowers give off a smell that has been described as ranging from a minimal odor to smelling like rotting fish. Photo: G. Craig, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Above, bottom right: The Bradford Pear provides a fleeting bit of fall color. Photo: Camilla, CC BY-NC-N. The negative? To start, those white blooms in the spring tend to be quite foul smelling. The odor tends to vary from plant to plant, but the best-case scenario would be an odorless flower and the worst case would be a scent described as “rotting fish.” If your sense of smell is not too keen, the tree’s scent may not scare you. So then, let’s consider the structure of the tree. Bradford pear tends to have branches that have vary narrow angles of attachment to the main trunk, which may seem insignificant at first, but in actuality causes limbs to be extremely weak in the area of attachment to the trunk and incredibly susceptible to breakage from wind, ice, or any other element that exerts force upon the tree. Look around your neighborhood sometime after a storm and see how many trees have snapped or dropped broken limbs to the ground. I bet you’ll see more snapped Bradford pears than just about anything else.
Although Bradford pears are self-sterile, they will cross pollinate with other callery pears, and are incredibly prolific seeders, providing yet another reason to dislike them. Because we’ve planted so many of them and they reproduce so forcefully, they have become extremely invasive, volunteering in wooded areas, sites with wet soil, and just about anywhere else space will allow.
NC Cooperative Extension, the NC Forest Service, NC Department of Agriculture, the NC Wildlife Service, and the NC Urban Forestry Council have teamed up to create the NC Bradford Pear Bounty program. Through the bounty program, NC residents who attend sponsored events and show proof of removing a Bradford pear from their property are eligible to receive a more suitable native tree species in its place. You can visit https:www.treebountync.com for more details about how to participate in the bounty program and register for qualifying events. Whether you choose to exchange a Bradford pear or not, you should know they are a problematic tree that is no longer recommended for use in our landscapes. There are many alternatives that are similar in size and/or appearance, including but not limited to serviceberry, redbud, various species of dogwoods, ‘Okame’ cherry, and more. The NC State Plant Toolbox (https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu) is a great online tool to locate a more appropriate tree species. Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705.
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You may have seen recently in the news or on social media that the White House Christmas tree came from a farm in North Carolina. In fact, this was the 16th NC tree to grace the White House since 1971. North Carolina is No. 2 in the United States in production of Christmas trees, behind only Oregon. While Oregon tree farms grow Douglas fir, Noble fir, Nordmann fir, and Grand fir primarily, about 96% of the Christmas trees grown in North Carolina are Fraser firs. Fraser fir (Abies fraseri) is a needle-leaf, evergreen conifer named after Scotch botanist John Fraser. It is native to high elevation areas of the Appalachian Mountain area of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Like all species of fir, it is a member of the Pinaceae family, which also includes other conifers such as the pines, spruces, hemlocks, and cedars. Because of its fondness for high elevation and the Appalachian climate, Fraser fir, as you might imagine, does not grow particularly well in Eastern NC. Our heat and humidity cause many issues, leading to poor growth and disease. Despite this, the Fraser fir remains an important tree statewide, as nearly all of us who choose to have a real tree at home during the Christmas season, or a wreath or garland for that matter, end up choosing a Fraser fir.
When grown in the right environment, Fraser firs will reach a mature height of 30-55 feet tall by 10-25 feet wide. In nurseries and on Christmas tree farms, they will be pruned fairly intensely during the early portion of their lives, in order to achieve an ideal shape and branch density. They grow best in full sun, and well-drained acidic soil. Fraser firs have a vibrant scent which many have come to associate with Christmas and thus items such as Christmas candles attempt to replicate that familiar aroma.
Above left: Fraser fir cones have visible bracts that curl downward. Bracts are modified leaf-like structures that cover the developing seeds within the cone. Photo: CC-BY-SA 2.0 Above right: The needles of the Fraser fir are fragrant and long-lasting, making them ideal for Christmas trees. Photo: D.B. Gleason, CC-BY-SA 2.0. Fraser fir trees are monoecious, meaning that female and male reproductive structures are found on the same plant. Each tree, therefore, is capable of producing cones. The cones are 1-3 inches long, and mainly purple-brown, with yellow-green scales and bracts that curl downward. When the cones mature, the scales, bracts, and seeds drop simultaneously, leaving just the woody core of the cone on the tree.
Though the vast majority of our North Carolina Christmas trees are Frasers, there are some Eastern Carolina Christmas-tree growers who raise other evergreen trees better suited to the environment in the Eastern half of the state. These include Leyland cypress, Eastern white pine, Virginia pine, Eastern red cedar, Arborvitae, and Arizona cypress. Each of those has a slightly different appearance and growing preferences, however they all share the general characteristics of being evergreen trees with a classic conical ‘Christmas-tree’ shape. Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705. |
Matt Stevens
Pitt County Extension Director & Horticulture Agent Archives
January 2025
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