Question
I have two Cleveland Bradford Pear trees in my front yard. During the spring they bloomed and then all the leaves came out and the tree was beautiful. Then in June I noticed that the leaves were starting to turn brown. Not falling off just turned all brown. Other are a lot of the leaves that are still just as green as when they first came out. I see no sign of any kind of fungus or bugs on these trees. I also have one in my back yard that is still beautiful.

Answer
Carol:
These ornamental pears are susceptible to a bacterial disease called bacterial fire blight. How to recognize; there will be SCATTERED twigs throughout the tree that look scorched, especially toward the tips. Leaves get dark brown to almost black. Looks like someone put a torch to the twig ends. These affected twigs will be interspersed with normal green twigs on the tree. If you look at one of these twigs up close, you can see that the wood on that branch is dying and turning brown.  You can often see where the brown color stops and the green colored bark starts.

If the whole tree is browning up, examine the base of the tree. Look for areas where there may be some bark damage (loose or ruffled up). This may indicate possible mechanical injury (lawnmower/string trimmer etc).

Over the last five years, there have been some inherent issues with this tree that have developed, especially as the tree gets older. Not only does it tend to have "weak" branches that snap easily with snow/ice accumulation, but apparently the roots are somewhat weak as well.  They look great for 3-4 years. They are very very common in my part of the world.

Regards

Steve