Weeping Willow-Leaved Pear
Green may be the color of a talented gardener's thumb, but too much green in the garden can be boring. The silvery, pendulous foliage of weeping willow-leaf pear (Pyrus salicifolia "Pendula") may be just what the garden gnome ordered. At a diminutive 12 to 18 feet tall, this tree's weeping habit adds motion to the yard and won't overwhelm smaller yards. If that's not enough to recommend it, weeping willow-leaf pear is easy to care for, with few pests and diseases to mar its beauty. "Silver Frost," a cultivated variety, has more noticeably silver foliage than its parent.
Willow-leaved pears bloom in mid-spring, generally around April, but may also bloom during mild winter weather. The flowers are eye catchers: the creamy white buds with pastel pink tips are borne in clusters that nearly cover the branches. Flowers are both male and female. When fully open, the flowers are cream to white, with five paddle-shaped petals and bright green centers. In bloom, weeping willow-leaf pear's rounded, pendulous branches look like a white fountain in the yard. Small, barely noticeable fruits 1.5 inches long appear in the summer.
Leaves of the weeping willow-leaf pear are arranged in an alternate pattern on the branches. The leaves may be slightly serrated around the edges and are long and slender, growing up to 3 1/2 inches long and 3/4 inch wide. Leaves emerge silver, but may age to a silvery green as they mature. The trees are deciduous, so leaves fall in autumn without changing color.
Suitable for U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 4 through 7, willow-leaf pear trees grow best in moist, well-drained soil in full sun, though they will tolerate some shade, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden's website. The trees can withstand some drought. The trees do well in clay, loamy or sandy soil with acidity levels ranging from highly acidic to highly alkaline. When planting more than one tree, space them 12 to 15 feet apart.
Although the trees are generally trouble-free, all pears are vulnerable to fire blight, caused by Erwinia amylovora, a bacterium. Fire blight forms cankers in the spring, when the pear breaks dormancy. A thin, tan-colored bacterial ooze from the cankers quickly turns dark, forming dark streaks on the tree. Flowers, leaves and fruit may wilt and turn black, but cling to the tree, making it appear scorched, as the disease's common name implies. Fire blight can kill limbs or the entire tree.
Withhold supplemental watering while the trees are in bloom, and prune away infected areas in summer or winter, while the infection is inactive. Destroy cuttings away from the garden.
The California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program website states that copper-based treatments offer the only hope of protection for the tree, and recommends a 5 percent mixture of copper sulfate, lime and water, which is called Bordeaux. Add 3 1/3 tablespoons of copper sulfate and dry, hydrated lime to 1 gallon of water and mix well. Pour the mixture into a sprayer and apply it while the tree is in bloom to protect the tree from further infection. Bordeaux mixture will not control existing infections. Reapply every four or five days until the tree finishes blooming.
Weeping willow-leaf pear trees may be used as stand-alone specimens, planted in groups to provide expanses of silvery motion in the yard, or stationed in rows for a natural, attractive screen. A pair of weeping willow-leaf pears planted on either side of the patio or at the entrance to the driveway provide eye-catching impact.
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Pyrus Salicifolia "Pendula"
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Pyrus Salicifolia "Silver Frost"
- Cal Poly Urban Forest Ecosystems Institute: Weeping Willow-Leaf Pear -- Pyrus Salicifolia
- University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program: Fire Blight
- University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program: Bordeaux Mixture
- Missouri Botanical Garden: Pyrus Salicifolia
Audrey Lynn has been a journalist and writer since 1974. She edited a weekly home-and-garden tabloid for her hometown newspaper and has regularly contributed to weekly and daily newspapers, as well as "Law and Order" magazine. A Hambidge Fellow, Lynn studied English at Columbus State University.