Don’t panic. The City of Bradford’s Tree Board takes its responsibilities very seriously.

Six of the now iconic Bradford pear trees lining Boylston Street, directly across from the Bradford Club, are nearing the end of their lifespans and will soon be removed.

Again, don’t panic.

According to city code, “It shall be the responsibility of the Tree Board to study, investigate, counsel and develop and/or update annually and administer a written plan for the care, preservation, pruning, planting, replanting, removal or disposition of trees and shrubs in parks, along streets and in other public areas.”

So, in consultation with the Penn State Cooperative Extension, the Tree Board carefully selected the pears’ replacements with the understanding that the new trees absolutely must break out in magnificent white blooms each spring.

Gaze upon the snowdrift crabapple; their blooms are white, and they’re spectacular.

“People like their white trees on Boylston Street,” said Ron Binder, the Tree Board’s volunteer president. “We want to preserve that — it’s an iconic picture for Bradford.”

Snowdrift crabapples in full bloom, according to the Arbor Day Foundation, are “something to behold. Its pink buds burst into a snowy white show in mid-spring.”

Further, the trees display color year round, with glossy, deep green leaves in summer that change to yellow each fall and their orange-red fruit are a favorite of birds through the winter.

The crabapple is also a good fit in urban environments.

“One of the challenges with these trees surrounded by concrete — you’ve got to really pick a tree that will grow in there and won’t buckle the sidewalks and things like that,” Binder said.

The board will not simply replant the same kind of trees because the Bradford pear is actually an invasive species. Further, Binder said, they have a relatively short life cycle that, in its later stages, requires “a lot of trimming” and limbs begin to break off.

City workers will soon cut down the six pears and grind their stumps to prepare for the mid-November planting of the crabapples, which will arrive already about 10 feet tall.

These six trees are part of the board’s overall plan for the city. Using grant funding from TreePennsylvania, a statewide, nonprofit dedicated to nurturing forests throughout the commonwealth’s urban landscape, the board will plant another 20 trees throughout the city this November.

As further rounds of TreePennsylvania grants are disbursed, the city aims to replace all of Boylston’s pear trees with the snowdrift crabapple.

“We’re very grateful we get the (TreePennsylvania) grants,” Binder stated. “We’ve already planted 40 trees and this November will be 20 more. Our goal is to get 200 trees in, in the next few years.”

During this fall alone, the nonprofit organization will have had a hand in planting 3,000 trees all over Pennsylvania.