April 18, 2022 in Garden & Yard, Home & Living, Nature & Recreation

Get a free native tree at Callery Pear Buy-Back

If you chop down an invasive Callery (Bradford) Pear tree within the next week, you can get a free native tree in the Callery Pear Buy-Back promotion sponsored by native plant advocates.

The Callery Pear, and its’ cultivar Bradford, is a species native to China and Vietnam. It’s known for its’ stinky white flowers that smell like rotten fish and is frequently damaged in stormy weather. It is invasive, spreads quickly and can force out native trees and plants.

To encourage home and business owners to stop the spread of this invasive tree, the Missouri Department of Conservation, Missouri Invasive Plant Council, Deep Roots, Johnson County Parks and Recreation District and Forest ReLeaf of Missouri have banded together to give away free native trees as replacements.

In Missouri, the program is available in Columbia, Cape Girardeau, Joplin, Kansas City, St. Louis and Springfield. In Kansas, it is available to residents in the Kansas City metro area.

Replacement trees are four and five feet tall, planted in three-gallon containers. Varieties include Blackgum, Chinkapin Oak, Ohio Buckeye, Northern Red Oak Saskatoon Serviceberry and River Birch. In Kansas City, MO the available trees are Ohio Buckeye and Northern Red Oak.