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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 the UK
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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