Bradford Pear Removal in Michigan: 2028 Rule and Cost

Michigan nurseries can sell Bradford pear through the end of 2027, and from 1 January 2028 it is a restricted species. That rule stops new planting. It does nothing about the pear already growing wild along roadsides and in fields, and for the owner of a fence row or field edge, that is the pear that costs money.

A pear-filled field or edge is cleared with one mulching pass, return cuts for the shoots that follow over the next growing season or two and, if you want it, a licensed applicator’s stump treatment. Clearing an open stand of pear and brush typically runs $1,500 to $2,500 an acre.

What Michigan’s 2028 Listing Changes

Bradford is a cultivar name. The species is Pyrus calleryana, Callery pear, also sold as Bradford pear and Cleveland pear, and it is becoming established along roadsides and in fields throughout the Lower Peninsula.

The Invasive Species Order of the Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development, effective 20 May 2026, adds Callery pear to the restricted list along with Japanese barberry and the two buckthorns. Sale and cultivation are allowed in 2026 and 2027, and from 1 January 2028 it becomes unlawful to introduce, import, sell, possess with intent to distribute, or intentionally propagate the tree in Michigan.

Nothing in that list tells a landowner to cut down a pear in the yard or clear one out of a field. The rule stops new trees from being sold and planted, and clearing the ones you have is your decision, made for what the trees do to the land. That is how the rule stands as of 16 October 2026.

How a Street Tree Becomes a Field Thicket

A tree once thought nearly sterile fills old fields this way.

Different cultivars pollinate each other. A single pear tends not to set seed on its own, but in neighborhoods planted with several cultivars, pollen moves between them, and the fruit that follows carries viable seed.

Birds move the seed. The small, hard fruit is eaten by birds, which carry the seed into natural areas, well away from the planted tree. Fruit that is not eaten falls under the tree and adds to the stand.

The seed waits. The seed needs a cold period to sprout and can stay viable up to 11 years. A field can keep producing pear seedlings long after the parent tree is gone.

The roots send up shoots. Callery pear spreads from a shallow root system that throws up new stems, called suckers, which is how a few trees become a thicket. Thickets run from half an acre to several acres.

Orchards are a source too. Callery pear is commonly used as rootstock for eating pears. Where a grafted tree suckers, the shoots from its roots are Callery pear, not the fruit variety above.

It beats native growth to the light. Pear leafs out earlier than native plants in spring and keeps its leaves late in fall, shading the ground beneath it. It forms thickets particularly in grasslands, restored wetlands and forest edges.

Spotting It in Spring

Callery pear blooms before it leafs out: small white flowers with five petals, often with an unpleasant smell. That is the week to walk a property and see how far it has spread. Serviceberry, common on forest edges, also shows white five-petal flowers before its leaves, but its petals are longer than they are wide, its flowers are spaced along the stems and its fruit is a dark berry. Hawthorn, another look-alike, is often covered in long, sharp thorns and has sharply toothed leaves. Flag the trees you want to keep while the difference is easy to see.

Why Cutting It Down Brings It Back

Cutting down trees, nicking the roots while mowing and prescribed fire can all encourage suckering. A pear that is cut and left becomes a cluster of shoots from the stump, and its roots send up more of them across the ground around it. Mowing a young stand does the same. Cutting saplings without treating the stump leads to regrowth, and control by cutting alone takes several rounds of cutting over several years.

Three habits work against a single visit:

• Stumps resprout. A cut stem answers with several new ones.
• Roots resprout. Shoots appear away from the stump, along the shallow roots.
• Seed keeps coming. Seed already in the soil and fruit from pears along the road or in the next yard keep starting new trees.

When a tree is cut down, a systemic herbicide applied to the cut is what stops the regrowth. That is a licensed applicator’s work. Cut Brush does the mechanical clearing; if you want the stumps treated, the applicator follows the mulcher.

Wild pear is also hard on equipment and hands. Its thorns can reach 3 inches and fallen branches that can puncture tires. Grinding the thicket where it stands keeps those cut, thorny branches off the ground instead of in a pile someone has to drag.

A Clearing Plan for Pear Ground

1. Walk it in bloom. In spring, before the leaves are out, the pear shows white. Mark the stands and flag the oaks, maples or other trees that stay.
2. Wait for firm ground. Book the clearing pass for ground that will carry a tracked machine. On heavy clay that usually means a dry spell in late summer or fall, or a hard freeze.
3. Mulch the stand. The machine takes each stem down and turns it to chips where it stood, with stumps ground flush with the ground. Nothing is piled or hauled off, and the chips and roots stay to hold the soil.
4. Treat the stumps, if you choose. A licensed applicator treats the cut stumps right after the pass, arranged by you.
5. Cut the shoots. New stems will rise from stumps and roots in the season after clearing. Taking them down while they are still green and thin stops the stand from rebuilding, and each sprout visit is quoted separately, with the minimum charge still applying to small jobs.
6. Keep the ground busy. Ground that is mowed, grazed or planted gives new seedlings little room. Because the seed can last years in the soil, keep an eye out for new pear for several seasons.

What Callery Pear Removal Costs

Clearing Callery pear and brush from a field edge, fence row or idle lot typically runs $1,500 to $2,500 per acre, the pear thicket and understory row on our Kimball Township pricing page. An old, closed thicket with trunks too big to take as understory prices as forestry mulching, $1,500 to $4,000 per acre.

Job	Typical range	Notes
Young pear and brush on a field edge or lot line	$1,500 to $2,500 per acre	Long strips count by their acreage equivalent
Old, closed pear thicket	$1,500 to $4,000 per acre	Priced as forestry mulching
A whole parcel opened up	$1,500 to $4,500 per acre	Priced as land clearing; stumps ground level
A small patch or one corner	Minimum charge of about $1,500	Where small jobs start; billed in place of an acre rate, never added to one
Sprout cuts after the first pass	Priced per visit	Each one a separate line you can accept
Herbicide on the stumps	Not our work	Arranged with a licensed applicator

Every pass grinds stems and stumps into mulch on site, flush with the ground, with nothing hauled away. Full stump removal below grade, and cutting and hauling very large trees, are discussed and priced in the quote. Grading is not part of our price; we clear to the ground so a builder can grade.

Inside a band, an acre costs more as the stand gets older and tighter, as the number of flagged keepers grows, and as the ground gets softer or the patches farther apart. One large ornamental pear beside a driveway is tree work rather than clearing, and its felling and hauling are quoted on their own. Statewide figures for other kinds of clearing are in the Michigan land clearing cost guide.

Southeast Michigan, Port Huron and St. Clair County

Callery pear is spreading along roadsides and into fields across the Lower Peninsula. Around Port Huron, Kimball Township, Marysville and the rest of St. Clair County, the clearing method is the same as anywhere in the state, but the ground and the paperwork have local features.

Clay ground. Southeast Michigan’s lakeplain soils are clay that was once the bottom of large glacial lakes. Flat clay drains slowly, so a tracked machine waits for dry or frozen ground rather than rutting a wet field.

Water and permits. The St. Clair County Health Department requires a soil erosion permit for an earth change of an acre or more, or within 500 feet of a lake or stream, and it counts creeks that serve as drains as streams. A field edge along one of those drains can fall inside that distance. Requirements vary by parcel, scope and jurisdiction, and the governing authority makes the determination.

No pile to burn. Kimball Township allows open burning only with a township permit. Mulched pear leaves nothing to burn.

Start at our Kimball Township land clearing page for the towns we cover in St. Clair, Macomb, Lapeer and Sanilac counties.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Bradford pear banned in Michigan?

Not yet. The state order allows it to be sold and grown through 2027. On 1 January 2028 the restriction begins, and selling, importing or deliberately propagating it becomes unlawful.

Do I have to remove the Callery pear on my land?

No. The order restricts trade and planting; it says nothing that requires an owner to take out a tree that is already there. Clearing a field or edge before the stand thickens is a choice made for the land.

Can I just mow the young pear?

Mowing knocks it back but does not kill it. Nicking the roots while mowing can encourage more shoots, so a mowed stand often comes back thicker.

How much does Bradford pear removal cost in Michigan?

Most open pear ground prices at $1,500 to $2,500 an acre. An old thicket moves into the $1,500 to $4,000 mulching band, small jobs start at a minimum charge of about $1,500, and sprout visits are priced one by one.

Request a Quote for Your Pear Ground

Request a free quote and we’ll contact you to discuss your property, access and the clearing you need. Our crew plans pear work in order: marked in bloom, mulched on firm ground, cut again as the shoots come, then watched for new seedlings.