North Myrtle Beach Times Serving our Community and the Grand Strand for over 50 years
The North Myrtle Beach Tree City Board used its August Tree of the Month Award to highlight a pair of Cleveland Pears planted in the right-of-way along 9th Avenue South.
The trees were planted about 15 years ago as part of an Ocean Oaks Community beautification project. They are healthy and happy in their location.
The Cleveland Pear tree is often mistaken for the Bradford pear tree.
The Cleveland Pear is a rapid grower but a bit smaller than the Bradford pear, reaching 30 to 40 feet high and 15 feet wide at maturity, while the Bradford pear grows more rapidly to a height of 30 to 50 feet with a spread of 20 to 30 feet.
The Cleveland pear has an erect, oval-shaped canopy, growing more upright than the Bradford pear, and it has an attractive pyramidal form. The Cleveland Pear grows more slowly and is stronger and less invasive than the Bradford pear. Multiple outlets no longer recommend the Bradford pear for landscaping.
The Cleveland pear is often used as a specimen tree, focal point, shade tree or street tree.
The Tree of the Month program began in 2010 as a way to recognize preserved trees in the city. It also provides a platform to remind people of the benefits and importance that trees offer in our everyday lives.
If you have a tree you would like to be considered for Tree of the Month, contact Parks and Grounds Superintendent Jim Grainger at 843-280-5571 or via email at nmbtreeboard@nmb.us.
Property owners and developers interested in finding out how they can preserve trees on their property may contact the North Myrtle Beach Tree City Board at nmbtreeboard@nmb.us.
