BRADFORD PEAR TREE EXCHANCE PROGRAM ANNOUNCED

As they have been in Walhalla, Bradford pear trees have fallen out of favor in Clemson. In the university city, a project has been announced to allow property owners to exchange up to five Bradford pear trees for an equal number of “free, healthy, native, (and) young replacement trees.” Bradford pear trees have been widely planted in the Upstate. While the blossoms are pretty, they have a pungent odor and the trees often break apart during storms. Even worse, according to the announcement from the city of Clemson, Bradford pear trees directly contribute to one of the worst invasive plant species in the Southeast—the callery pear.