Callery Pear... be gone!

Oh glorious day!  I've been dreaming of this day since I moved in to my house 7 months ago.  I finally hired a landscape crew to remove the thicket of invasive Callery pear (Pyrus calleryana) trees from my back property line.  Unfortunately there are a couple remaining on the edge of my neighbors property, but at least I'm rid of the terrible things from my property!  There are also 'Bradford' pears (probably the most well known variety of Callery pear) growing in the yards of several other homes in the neighborhood so I'll have to remain vigilant about weeding out seedlings in my yard.  The flowers are pretty but fleeting and have an unpleasant smell.  The trees are quick growing but weak branched, easily damaged in storms, and short lived.  And in my area, these trees are also known to quickly take over open fields and choke out native species in wooded areas.  Once the guys were done clearing this small area in my backyard, we counted nearly 30 trees removed!

Before

After nearly 30 pear trees were removed.

I've gained an extra 20 to 30 foot strip of land to plant with much prettier and less invasive things! I'm planning to plant the area to create a small woodland path.  I've already collected the following:

• dogwood (Cornus florida)
• eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis)
• 'Sango Kaku' coral bark maple
• Southern indica azaleas ('Formosa' and 'George L Tabor')
• a mix of several hydrangeas (oakleaf, lacecaps, mopheads)

I have the trees and shrubs covered but next I need to build up a collection of shade perennials and ground covers (ie. ajuga or pachysandra, hosta, ferns, columbines, hellebores, etc) to create more interest and texture through out the year.  Heavily planting the area to cover or shade out the ground will  hopefully limit how much I have to deal with pear seedlings from the trees remaining on the neighbors property line.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this area develops because I love shade gardens!