Planting Hackberry?

[macrocarpa]

What about hackberry as a street/landscape tree? Do they transplant OK?

I think of them as a forest tree and never really considered planting them, but they seem tough, strong wood, durable, so why not?

Trying to come up with some good shade trees (preferably native)to add diversity to the oaks and maples that dominate lanscapes.

Opinions?

 

[tomthetreeman]

As long as you are using C. occidentalis (not laevigata), they make a very good street or landscape tree. I have been using them for six or seven years in our street tree program in Providence. They make a nice alternative to Elm, and their ultimate crown shape is suitable for planting under (some) wires.

Laevigata is also an OK tree, but is shorter lived and does not develop a well defined crown. They are more like a Mulberry; every once in a while you see a beautiful one, but in general they are more wild.

As far as I know, Hackberry are a fairly easy transplant. I would say of the hundred or so that I have planted I have lost less than five percent, and those generally due to neglect.

-Tom

 

[KentuckySawyer]

Seems like they'd do well. They grow in some nasty, inhospitable places here. Compacted soils and confined root zones.

Thornless Honey Locust, Green Ash (maybe not a good choice cause of EAB), and Ginkgo (not native) are other trees that tolerate urban spaces.

 

[moonfarm]

Nice tree. It's on the fall dig hazard list, so only get spring dug trees.

 

[gourd]

Nice trees. IMO more prone to decay at wound points and subsequent cavity development than some other choices. I suggest keeping them away from sensitive targets. They are weeds around here. Anyone got any firsthand experience of "Prairie Sentinel" columnar hackberry offered by Schmidt & sons? Thinking about trying some.

 

[Blinky]

They have to be pruned to be good residential trees.

We have lots of old ones, they get pretty massive and out of balance if left untouched... BIG tearouts aren't uncommon.

Sometimes they change things a bit...

28" wood at the tear about 15' up, this was the larger of a co-dominant pair. Trunk was 58" dba. The wood is stupid heavy.

See the couch? They would have been on it but a friend talked them into stopping for a drink... another young couple saved by alcohol! The 60" plasma TV didn't make it.

I like one every once in a where but generally say badwords when I have to prune like, five in a row.

 

[gourd]

Yeah, that's what I meant... Was it a storm, or did it just fall because it's time was up? Stuff that falls on a calm day is the worst. I have a hard time making the call on hazardous trees. I've cut trees that I was certain were on the verge of falling down onto a building or busy street, only to find that they were pretty sound inside, while another one just drops a big limb that wasn't showing any outward signs of decay or damage. Wish I could do better at this.

 

[tomthetreeman]

Blinky, that is C. laevigata (Sugarberry aka Hackberry), not C. occidentalis.

Occidentalis is a much more sound, longer lived tree, laevigata is sort of a weed.

-Tom

 

[Blinky]

You're right. We have both here but C. laevigata is much more common and weed like. The tree in the pics was planted in the 1930s, had some pretty fat annual rings.

I've been favoring U. parvifolia, Q. nuttalli and Ginkgo for mid-size street trees. Under lines we get stuck planting a lot of crape myrtles and serviceberrys.

Nice bit of carnage from the tearout though, eh?

 

[tomthetreeman]

I'll say!

 

[Blinky]

Weird, I just took another torn out hackberry (C. laevigata) off a shed this AM. Talk about unsound, I have more pics but haven't transferred. I'm probably gonna condemn this one.

 

[macrocarpa]

I always thought of them as somewhat of a weed tree, mostly because they tend to grow in scrubby, disturbed sites though. But every now and then I see a big specimen of the C. occ (hackberry) in the woods and it impresses me, and seems like a good elm replacement like tom said. But maybe they have some issues? Or is it just the C.lae (sugarberry) that sucks?

I have very little experience with sugarberry.

Thanks for the input.

hackberry
http://www.dendro.cnre.vt.edu/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=26

sugarberry
http://www.cnr.vt.edu/dendro/dendrology/syllabus/factsheet.cfm?ID=275