In regards to grasses, remember that grasses and other forbs are the first stage of nature's eventual path to reforestation. If you don't plan to do anything with that area, then let it progress until you are ready to help it along (by planting trees or shrubs or whatever).

Similar point with the pears. I understand your perspective. I guess I might weed out down to a core few while you get some better trees started either adjacent to the area or elsewhere. Then just plan to take the rest of them down as soon as you can. Make it a priority to plant some trees so that they get going (I regret any time that I ever wasted waiting to plant trees).

I don't know if you can spray the blossoms with something to keep them from setting fruit. People have asked about that before.

A twig of a tree will be that size after just 4 yrs. They sound like small trees to me. My parents (*sigh*) have one that is probably 25 ft tall. Produces lots of little pears too. It doesn't cast much, if any of what I'd call shade. Last year I dug out a 15 ft tall Norway Maple here in my yard. It wasn't hard and in it's place is now a Catalpa. It's almost the same size and I only paid $20 for it. A Chinquapin Oak (Quercus muehlenbergii) planted as a small tree, can grow 2 to 4 ft a year.

It sounds like your husband is trying to convince himself to keep the pears...the neighbors have them, nurseries sell them (which always reminds me of my parents and their question if somebody else had something and I wanted it, if they jumped off a bridge, would I?) shade, trees take too long to grow etc etc. You can also argue that some day those trees are going to be a lot bigger than they are right now and will be harder to take down. Unless they do what they're known to do and just fall apart at 20 yrs of age. At 8 or 10 ft. your husband and a chainsaw can take care of them easily.

And of course this is all just my opinion...;)

"...alot of the information I find about it suggests that it should be eradicated"
You will be hard pressed to find one credible environmental site that makes that recommendation.
Broom sedge is one of our most abundant warm-season grasses. The clump-forming nature of native grasses forms excellent habitat for ground nesting birds. Keep it and appreciate it.
Callery pear on the other hand must be removed. The starlings spread the seed. It is an introduced weed.
Sam

I agree with Sam on the broom sedge. Maybe it's a weed if it pops up in a crop field, but it's a good plant in a meadow. Incidentally, little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) looks a lot like broom sedge, and the two grasses sometimes grow together. So if you haven't already, you might want to check whether you have little bluestem.

I think most of the people who call for eradication of Broomsedge are focused on forage for livestock. There is not reason for you to eradicate it under any circumstance, and unless you want to improve conditions for grazing livestock i wouldn't even try to reduce its abundance. It is native, attractive, and will eventually give way to shrubs and trees unless you mow to keep some of the property a grassland. As previous poster mentioned, Little Bluestem looks a lot like Broomsedge and is more common in many areas.

I'd get rid of the Callery Pear. Saving them temporarily is just delaying growing what you really want. I'd plant real shade trees as soon as possible. You can't beat oaks for long life, and they grow a lot faster than their reputation would indicate. If I was going to eradicate pears in a woodland or border area I'd simply girdle the trunk and let them die. Standing dead wood makes great habitat for lots of birds and is generally lacking in many suburban areas.

It's simple, keep the broomsedge, its native, its also attractive, and its part of successional growth of plants. If you want other native grasses like big and little bluestem, add them. i attached a pic of broomsedge.

As for the pears...yes, they need to go, but remove a few at a time. maybe one third this year, and continue for the next few years. Do a bunch of research on the best native trees for your area. contact your native plant society.

Here is a link that might be useful: broomsedge

Can you grow watermelons? Soil with broomsedge as thick as you describe produces lovely watermelons, once you plow it. Personally, I'd keep it for the natural progression -- but not transplant. Broomsedge along the driveway strikes me as a very bad idea.

If you and your hubby like the looks of the broomsedge, and would like something similar to grow along your driveway, you might check into little bluestem. As a couple of people have already mentioned, it looks a whole lot like broomsedge. However, it is more suited to cultivation (for example, several sites mention that when soil fertility increases, little bluestem will thrive, whereas broomsedge will die out). Also, Prairie Nursery says that their planting of little bluestem has not spread by seed. Judging by the distribution of broomsedge in our meadow, I'd guess that it does spread by windblown seed.

There are several cultivars available, though the plain species is also attractive.

Of course, if what you already have turns out to be little bluestem, then transplant away. Here's one site's idea of how to tell the difference in spring/summer: "... go to the base of the plant and look at the shoots. Little Bluestem shoots are flattened and pink in color; Broomsedge shoots are yellowish in color."