blooming pear trees

Asked June 17, 2014, 10:24 AM EDT

How do you control seedlings and sprouts coming up

Davidson County North Carolina trees and shrubs horticulture

1 Response

I assume by "blooming" you're talking about one of the callery pears like the Bradford pear. Here's an interesting article on what a problem these can become, and it gives control suggestions. Note, though, that it's talking about a tree that's been cut down. If you're talking about seedlings from a live tree that you want to keep, then don't use those methods. You can either pull these by hand or you can mulch them. Covering them with a couple of inches of mulch will "smother" them and keep them from growing. If you feel absolutely compelled to do so, you can use a glyphosate-containing herbicide as recommended in the article. Remember, though, that it will kill any plant it is sprayed on, so use it very carefully and ONLY on a day with no breeze. (Also, the temp needs to be below 85°.)