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Growth Facts
- Hardiness Zone: 3-9
- Spacing: 50-60'
- Exposure: Full Sun to Part Shade
- Deer Resistant: Yes
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Common Hackberry
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A tough, native shade Tree with subtle charms. Common Hackberry is usually the supporting actor, not the star, but it always puts on a winning performance. This sturdy stalwart can cope with rocky soil, drought, periodic flooding, pollution, salt spray, strong winds, alkaline soil, high heat, and frigid winters and doesn't miss a beat. It forms a handsome, upright/arching outline and sports a heavily textured gray trunk that you'll want to touch. The serrated green leaves are Elm-like (Hackberry is related to Elm, but it doesn't get Dutch Elm disease). A great Tree for semi-wild spaces, native plant gardens, parking lots, and low-maintenance landscapes.
Growth Facts
- Hardiness Zone: 3-9
- Spacing: 50-60'
- Exposure: Full Sun to Part Shade
- Deer Resistant: Yes
- Show more ›
The Story
Common Hackberry happily inhabits all sorts of wild spaces from Texas to North Carolina and north into Canada. It thrives in forests and on prairies and riverbanks, and it gets along well even on rocky outcroppings. Wildlife flock to it. In early fall, the purple-brown fruits, which are sweet like raisins, attract songbirds for a free snack. Cedar waxwings and robins are especially fond of them. A variety of butterflies also visit this Tree. Mourning clocks, question marks, and tawny emperors are just a few that use Hackberry as a host plant.
The Details
Common Hackberry should be called the 'Butterfly Tree' for the wealth of butterflies it supports. Perhaps the most charming is the Hackberry butterfly. This endearing little creature loves people (actually, it likes to sip the salts from our skin). You may feel a tickle while you're out working in the garden and find a Hackberry butterfly has landed on you!
How to Grow
Common Hackberry will grow fastest in full sun or light shade, in soil that is rich and moist. However, it will put up with poor growing conditions without complaint. Water it well during the first couple of years of establishment, and it should be able to fend for itself after that. A couple of issues that Hackberries sometimes face are witches' brooms (a proliferation of congested, twiggy growth) and Hackberry nipple gall (which appears as small bumps on the leaves). Neither of these is a serious problem. They are merely cosmetic afflictions that aren't real threats to your Tree.
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