photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

An ornamental pear tree is pictured near City Hall, 6 E. Sixth St.

The Bradford pear trees across Lawrence are replete with their springtime blooms, but the white flowers are not a welcome sight for those in the city’s forestry division.

The Bradford pear is a type of ornamental pear tree native to Asia that has been popular with landscapers, but the fast-growing trees have spread to parks and other forested areas to the detriment of native tree and plant species and wildlife. It was initially thought the trees would not be able to reproduce, but that proved not to be the case as the trees began spreading, creating a widespread problem in the U.S., according to national media reports.

Like other cities, the City of Lawrence planted the trees in city right-of-way and other landscaped areas, but the trees did not remain within those bounds.

Horticulture and Forestry Manager Tyler Fike said the city does not have a full inventory of all ornamental pear trees on city property and right-of-way, but that the city’s inventory system indicates there are at least 277 trees that have been planted over the years. However, Fike said the trees have spread far beyond the initial plantings, and that many of the trees are “volunteer plants,” which means they sprung up on their own without being intentionally planted.

“Beyond the planted trees of this variety, there are likely several hundred more that have sprouted up as volunteer plants throughout the parks system, which demonstrates their invasive nature,” Fike said.

Though the city has stopped planting the trees, it will take a significant effort to remove the trees, and plans to do so are still being discussed.

photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

The blossoms of a Bradford pear tree near Lawrence’s City Hall are pictured Wednesday, April 20, 2022.

Fike, who recently took on his current role, said the city is no longer planting any varieties of ornamental pear tree, and that he believes very few have been planted in recent years. Specifically, he said he believes there were a handful of trees left over in the city’s nursery stock that were planted up until last fall, but it was not a significant amount. He estimated it might have been five trees over the last two years.

City spokesperson Porter Arneill said that while there is not a specific plan under current maintenance workloads and staff levels to systematically remove ornamental pear trees on city property or right-of-way, there are some efforts underway. Arneill said that staff has been working to reduce some pear trees that have sprouted up in a native grass area at Prairie Park and looking into the possibility of replacing some trees in the right-of-way that are in poor condition. He said the efforts to address the trees in the right-of-way are still in discussion, and there is not yet a set timeline.

Fike also noted those efforts to city commissioners at their meeting Tuesday, where commissioners made their annual proclamation for Arbor Day and also recognized the city being designated a Tree City USA for the 44th consecutive year.

Fike told commissioners that last year, the city’s forestry division removed 600 either dead or damaged hazardous trees and planted 583 new trees. He said the division has a goal to improve on those numbers this year and is also working to address invasive species, including both ornamental pear trees and honeysuckle.

“Right now if you look at our wooded areas in some of the undeveloped parks, you’re seeing a couple invasive issues that we’re dealing with,” Fike said.

Fike said that currently most of the green in the understory of wooded areas — or the underlying layer of vegetation — in the city’s undeveloped parks is honeysuckle, which he said is one of the first things to leaf out in springtime and is an invasive plant that chokes out native forests. He said the ornamental trees with the white blooms are also invasive and causing similar problems

Fike said that the city, like other areas in the region, is looking at plans to deal with that issue in wooded park areas. As far as trees in the right-of-way, he said there were a couple not far from City Hall, near the Riverfront parking garage, that would be removed.