Bartholomew County offering pear tree removal grants

Bartholomew County is making it easier for you to get rid of invasive Bradford pear trees and others in its family.

According to the Bartholomew County Soil and Water Conservation District, they are launching a Callery Pear Removal Program to provide incentives to get rid of the tree. Trees in the family include the Bradford, Aristocrat and Cleveland Select and other. The program will provide a $400 grant to reimburse the costs to remove any mature, standalone landscape Callery Pear Trees.

The district is partnering with Frank’s Tree Care & Arborist Services and Bluestone Tree Services to offer a discount on removal of the pear trees for this program.

Arborists say that the pear trees are extremely weak structurally but outcompete other native trees when they spread to the wild. They also have foul smelling flowers and thorns that are harmful to humans and wildlife. Purdue University suggests replacing the pear trees with native species such as serviceberry, flowering dogwood, redbud, and crabapple.

You can find more information here: https://www.bartholomewswcd.org/callery-pear-removal

Photo: Callery Pear Trees. Photo courtesy of Purdue Cooperative Extension Office Putnam County.