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Gleditsia triacanthos f. inermis

thornless honey locust

A large, spreading, deciduous tree to 20m tall with a thornless trunk and divided leaves comprising paired, oblong, glossy leaflets that turn yellow in autumn. Insignificant greenish flowers are followed by flat, brown seed pods often twisted into a sickle shape

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Size
Ultimate height
Higher than 12 metres
Time to ultimate height
20–50 years
Ultimate spread
Wider than 8 metres
Growing conditions
Chalk
Clay
Loam
Sand
Moisture
Moist but well–drained, Well–drained
pH
Acid, Alkaline, Neutral
Colour & scent
StemFlowerFoliageFruit
Spring Bronze Red
Summer Green Green Brown
Autumn Yellow Brown
Winter
Position
  • Full sun
Aspect

West–facing or South–facing or North–facing or East–facing

Exposure
Exposed or Sheltered
Hardiness
H6
Botanical details
Family
Fabaceae
Native to GB / Ireland
No
Foliage
Deciduous
Habit
Bushy
Genus

Gleditsia are deciduous trees with elegant, pinnate or bipinnate foliage, often on spiny branches, inconspicuous flowers followed by large flattened seed-pods

Name status

Correct

Plant range
C & E USA

How to grow

Cultivation

Grow as a specimen tree in any well-drained soil in full sun

Propagation

Propagate by seed or grafting

Suggested planting locations and garden types
  • Low Maintenance
Pruning

Pruning group 1

Pests

May be susceptible to gall midge

Diseases

May be susceptible to honey fungus

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