Bradford pear trees with their white spring blossoms are seen Thursday from a parking lot near Memorial Hospital in South Bend. Staff photo by Robert Franklin
SOUTH BEND — The state took a major step in 2019 when it banned the sale, transport, swapping, gifting or introduction of 44 invasive plants. A similar move was brewing in South Bend at the same time, but the group behind it, the city’s Ecological Advocacy Committee, noticed that 47 species were left off of the state list.
Among the skipped-over plants was the Bradford pear tree, whose profuse white blossoms now line busy streets by churches, businesses and even newly built city projects.
Their young offspring, easily planted by birds who pluck the berries, often cluster themselves in nearby fields, an early bloomer that outcompetes native plants.
On Monday, committee chairman Steve Sass and city parks officials hope to plug those gaps. When it meets at 7 p.m., the South Bend Common Council will hold a public hearing and vote on changes to city ordinances that would ban the wider list of land-based plants from being sold or planted in city limits.
“We need to stop the inflow of things that are taking over,” Sass said.
Copyright © 2024, South Bend Tribune