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Although many people do not know it in depth, hackberry is a very popular tree to grow in both parks and gardens. Its great capacity for growth and its long life, of up to 600 years, make it ideal for creating pleasant shady areas in all kinds of green spaces, at the foot of which all kinds of plants can also be grown thanks to the fact that its roots they are deep. In addition, hackberry wood is also highly valued, especially for tool making.
If you want to know more about hackberries and some of their main characteristics, such as how long it takes for a hackberry to grow, join us in this Green Ecologist article where you will see a guide on the hackberry care.
Hackberry characteristics
These are the main characteristics of the hackberry tree:
- It is commonly called lodón, aligonero, ledonero, lodoño, quicavero, latonero or hackberry, its scientific name is Celtis australis, and it is a tree of the Cannabaceae family and is part of the Celtis genus, which has about 70 species of trees that are found in most of the temperate zones of the world.
- Hackberry can reach about 25 meters tall, with a straight trunk and a wide, rounded crown.
- It is deciduous, being lanceolate and clearer on the underside.
- It grows in Mediterranean regions and up to 1,200 meters of altitude and near water sources such as streams, reservoirs or fountains, although it is always found alone, being one of the most recognizable features of the tree, which never forms forests.
- The hackberry fruit, on the other hand, it is usually called hackberry or hackberry, and they are edible, with a sweet and pleasant taste. They are commonly a very important resource for native fauna and have been traditionally used in folk medicine.
- The flowers appear in spring, depending on the exact month of the local climate and the temperatures of that year. They are small and inconspicuous flowers that appear in the axils of the leaves on the younger branches.
- In Catalan tradition, there was a custom for peasants to plant one of these trees when the future heir of the family was born.
- When it comes to when to plant a hackberry, the best time to plant is spring, in a clear, well-lit area.
Location for hackberry
The most important thing when choosing a location for this tree is lighting and also a nearby source of moisture. It is a plant that needs a good direct sun exposure, with enough hours of light a day. Regarding humidity, it will be enough if the roots can reach the underground moisture from a nearby water source or, if not, maintain more frequent watering.
Thus, the most important thing is to find a cleared area where it can grow broadly and develop without problems or competition for light.
Soil for hackberry
The ideal is to have a soil rich in nutrients, fresh and well drained, but the reality is that this tree is so resistant that it has a great adaptability to all types of soils, being able to grow even in very rocky and stony soils, being often used in projects of recovery of areas to give stability to the soil.
In alkaline soils the tree will grow less and more slowly, but it can grow without major problems than those, even in urban environments where other species suffer from a lot of stress. Yes it is important that the soil offers a acceptable drainage, since a prolonged flooding would harm it to a great extent.
Irrigation of hackberry
The tree, once adult, is not demanding with watering, requiring very little attention in this regard, especially in areas with a certain humidity or level of rainfall. Yes irrigation in the early stages is more important development of hackberry, and is that a young specimen will need regular and frequent waterings to be able to grow, especially in the warm summer months.
With the young trees we will have to water between every 2 or 3 days approximately, while an adult tree will have enough with one watering a week and even tolerate occasional and not too long droughts.
To learn more about the watering needs of plants, here you can read about how to know when to water plants.
Hackberry pruning
Hackberry does not really need pruning and, in fact, does not do well with pruning its thicker branches. It happens that, however, one of the main problems of this tree is that its branches, when they are formed, tend to grow in a very chaotic way and to become entangled and interfere with each other, requiring manual intervention when this occurs.
In these cases, it will be better just remove the thinnest branches, leaving the thick ones to follow where they go. It is necessary to be very careful with pruning, perform them with properly disinfected tools, perform slanted cuts that do not favor the accumulation of water or residues and, therefore, of fungi such as rust, dangerous for the tree.
Now that you have learned about hackberry care, you may want to learn more about trees and perhaps discover another that you would like to have in your garden, orchard or field. Therefore, we encourage you to read about the different types of trees and 20 ornamental trees.
If you want to read more articles similar to Hackberry: care, we recommend that you enter our category of Cultivation and care of plants.
