ROANOKE, Va. – White blooms are all over Roanoke right now, and while they may be a pretty sight, forestry leaders say they’ve got to go.
Bradford pears, or Callery pears, are a sign of spring and have a smell you don’t forget.
“Fish, like rotting fish,” one person said.
“I hear rotting a lot, but plenty of other things too,” said Lindsay Caplan, an invasive species specialist for the Virginia Department of Forestry.
Caplan said the trees can be problematic in many ways.
“They just kind of take over when they’re given the chance,” Caplan said. “All of these other native species that [are] really beneficial to our plants and our animals, they can’t grow. They’re totally outcompeted.”
Not to mention, they can be dangerous.
“They’re known for dropping limbs, and splitting after like big weather events, wind, snow, anything like that,” Caplan said. “So, they’re hazardous to people too.”
Forestry leaders are calling on you to think twice before you plant one and to consider removing the ones you own to play your part in stopping the spread.
“It’s not something that is beneficial to us,” Caplan said. “It causes a lot of problems, and we want to do our best to raise awareness to get rid of them.”
If you are removing yours, take a picture. The Virginia Department of Forestry will trade you.
They’re having an event in Charlottesville on April 20. For more information, click here.