Callery (flowering) pear

Botanical name

Pyrus calleryana ('Bradford' and other cultivars)

Type

Small to medium deciduous ornamental tree from China

Size

'Bradford' 30 to 50 feet tall and 20 to 30 feet wide (Utah State University)

Hardiness

Zones 5 to 9; zones 6b to 7b by ZIP code here

Where it is found

Subdivision front yards and street strips on the valley floors, about 4,000 to 5,100 feet

Known weak points

Included bark, narrow branch angles, limb splitting, winter bud kill in cold spots

The white flush of pear blossom is among the first signs of spring in Reno and Carson City neighborhoods. Utah State University lists 'weak wood and/or branch structure' and 'poor branch attachment due to included bark' for it. This page covers identification, where it grows by elevation and when pruning or removal is the right call.

How do you identify a Callery pear?

In early spring the whole tree is covered in clusters of small white flowers, some with a smell people find unpleasant. The leaves that follow are glossy, dark green and rounded with a fine-toothed edge, and in fall they turn yellow, orange, red or purple. The shape of 'Bradford' is a broad pyramid; newer cultivars such as 'Chanticleer' are narrower.

The fruit is a small reddish-brown pome, and production is uneven. Look at the trunk. Many shoots leaving the trunk at the same height at tight angles is the pattern that matters most.

• White flowers in early spring
• Glossy, rounded leaves with brilliant fall color
• Pyramidal crown
• Many upright limbs packed close along the trunk

Where does it grow in Reno, Carson City and the Carson Valley?

Callery pear is a valley-floor tree. Reno ZIP 89501 is zone 7b, Carson City 89701 is 7a, Minden 89423 is 6b, and the species is rated for zone 5 and up. USU says winter kill of buds and possibly cambium occurs occasionally in colder locations, and the Chanticleer-type selections are slightly hardier than 'Bradford'.

At Incline Village (6,437 feet, zone 6b) and Kingsbury (7,126 feet), the combination of cold and heavy snow is harder on narrow unions than anything in the valleys. Reno sits near 4,505 feet and Carson City near 4,680 feet, with about 7 to 9 inches of precipitation a year at the nearest NOAA stations.

What goes wrong with it here?

Purdue University explains the core flaw: crowded, narrow branch angles weaken the tree's structure, and fast upright shoots add weight over the years. USU adds that the eventual size is bigger than most people expect. A limb that fails in a November windstorm or a spring snow often takes half the crown with it. See storm and snow-load breakage and the problem of included bark (bark trapped inside a tight fork).

Callery pear is also a host of fire blight, a bacterial disease. Blackened shoot tips that curl into a hook are the sign. Purdue also notes that cross-pollinated pears set fruit that birds spread, and the species is now considered invasive in parts of the country.

Pruning, cabling or removal: which is the right call?

Young pears respond well to structural pruning that spaces the main limbs and removes the ones that crowd. Purdue recommends thinning excess branches and shoots while they are small. On an older tree, correcting the structure is much harder, which is why the arborist's inspection comes first.

Cabling and bracing can hold a tree with one or two weak unions together while the rest is sound. Removal is the usual answer for a pear with a split trunk, a large crack at a union over a house or driveway, or a crown that has lost its balance after storm loss. Many pears are routine tree removal jobs, and stump grinding follows.

What does Battle Born Tree Service do about a Callery pear?

We look at the whole tree, not only the part that worries you, and the free estimate lays out structural pruning, cabling or removal. The crew is eight people, two of them ISA Certified Arborists, and the phone line is staffed seven days a week at 775.232.8243. We do not plant replacements. For firewood, call the office.