Honey Locust.....who knew?

[Joe Dupre']

I collected this honey locust in early Feb. of this year because it had an interesting trunk. It had two thick branches near the top, which I let sprout , but later cut off. They were too big for the final design of the tree. So, the tree was basicallly just a trunk with no shoots or leaves less than 5 months ago. Anyway, it really had a great flush of growth, so I mostly let it grow until the branches were big enough to cut back. So far, I have 3 branches that have been cut back at least twice, giving a nice change of direction. It is a surprisingly fast grower with leaves reducing by half this first go-around. NOT fun to prune, though.

I've since found some other honey locust candidates on my scouting trips. I'm beginning to appreciate the speed of growth and the look of the leaves.

 

[Zach Smith]

I collected this honey locust in early Feb. of this year because it had an interesting trunk. It had two thick branches near the top, which I let sprout , but later cut off. They were too big for the final design of the tree. So, the tree was basicallly just a trunk with no shoots or leaves less than 5 months ago. Anyway, it really had a great flush of growth, so I mostly let it grow until the branches were big enough to cut back. So far, I have 3 branches that have been cut back at least twice, giving a nice change of direction. It is a surprisingly fast grower with leaves reducing by half this first go-around. NOT fun to prune, though.

I've since found some other honey locust candidates on my scouting trips. I'm beginning to appreciate the speed of growth and the look of the leaves.

Nice work, Joey. Whenever I see these guys, the thorns chase me away.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Thanks, Zach. The thorns are a consideration. It's all part of the effort. I got a LOT of pricks as I was shaping the branches. They all wanted to go straight up from the trunk. All the drooping you see is a a result of carefully bending the tender branches down as they grew..... a little at a time. Trick is to bend them until they ALMOST break......crushing the cells just enough. The "almost" part is the hard thing!

 

[Colorado]

Nice!

I have 4 of these as landscape trees. They’re all the thornless variety. Even HUGE 100+ year old trees backbud on old wood near the base.

I’ve been planning to layer off a branch and this might be the kick in the butt I needed to get it going!

 

[Joe Dupre']

I was hoping this one popped a bud right at the bottom outward curve. Maybe next year. It's amazing how fast this thing is growing. If I wouldn't have pruned it, I think that bottom branch would be almost 3 feet long......with a few months of growth left to go!

Don't want to start anything, but I've come to the conclusion that, for the trees I collect, the way to go is very airy potting soil with plenty of pine bark. The trees seem to love it......at least for the first year.

 

[Shibui]

Unless you really want to show the thorns, or are a masochist, snip them off with scissors before working on the tree - no more problem. We do the same with firethorn, hawthorn and other spiky species.
At least yours doesn't have masses of thorns all over the trunk like some of the old trees I have seen.

 

[Joe Dupre']

Unless you really want to show the thorns, or are a masochist, snip them off with scissors before working on the tree - no more problem. We do the same with firethorn, hawthorn and other spiky species.
At least yours doesn't have masses of thorns all over the trunk like some of the old trees I have seen.

Not really into pain, but I figure thorns are part of the character of the tree. I do want to show the thorns ( a nice dark red) and will put up with a few jabs. The top part of the tree in the wild was covered with thorns sticking out from the trunk. I wouldn't mind at all if it grew some on the current lower trunk.

 

[ralf]

In Europe we have a Black locust ( Robinia pseudoacacia ) . Thorns_the more you cut the bigger and more frequent they are... Flowers are lovely and bark ages nicely. Branches may suffer from a dieback.

 

[Yosemite Goat]

So, there is this trunk at the nursery I work. It has intrigued me all summer. I have been tempted to purchase the tree, make a huge chop, and graft branches coming off the top of the chop. Not sure if this will work. Does anybody have experience doing so? Or grafting locust in general?

Oh, the base is about 9 inches!

 

[gallina1594]

This would look sweet styled like a cypress!

 

[pandacular]

do you still have this tree? My favorite tree in my neighborhood is a honey locust, and I'm visiting Denver currently and love all the ones around the city.

 

[Joe Dupre']

do you still have this tree? My favorite tree in my neighborhood is a honey locust, and I'm visiting Denver currently and love all the ones around the city.

So many trees! I really don't remember what happened to it. I may have sold it along the way.