Shagbark hickory

Sun

Full sun; tolerates light shade, but grows and crops better in sun.

Water

Moderate; water young trees during dry spells. Established trees tolerate some drought but grow best with consistent soil moisture.

Soil

Deep, fertile, well-drained soil, preferably loam. Tolerates clay if drainage is adequate; avoid shallow soil and prolonged waterlogging.

Height

60-80 ft (18-24 m), occasionally over 100 ft (30 m)

Spread

40-60 ft (12-18 m)

Flowers

Spring, as leaves emerge; inconspicuous yellow-green male catkins and tiny female flowers on the same tree.

Foliage

Large, compound leaves usually have five pointed leaflets, with the terminal leaflet largest. Green through summer, turning golden yellow in autumn; young trees lack the mature tree's distinctive loose bark strips.

Growth

Slow to moderate, often slow during establishment.

Care needed

Low

• Cold hardy
• Wildlife
• Edible

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Easy

Toughness

Very tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   8 ft (2.5 m)

2. After 1 year

   11 ft (3.2 m)

3. After 2 years

   13 ft (3.9 m)

4. After 3 years

   15 ft (4.7 m)

5. After 5 years

   20 ft (6.1 m)

About 26 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Safe

Native to

the US and Canada

Growth rate

Slow

• Plant a small, nursery-grown tree in its permanent position; its deep taproot makes later transplanting difficult.
• Water deeply during dry weather for the first two or three growing seasons.
• Keep a broad, grass-free mulch ring, with mulch clear of the trunk.
• Feed only if a soil test shows a deficiency; established trees usually need no routine fertiliser.
• For better nut set, plant two genetically different shagbark hickories with overlapping flowering times.
• Allow room away from paving, buildings and seating areas, where falling nuts and husks can be troublesome.

Pruning. Prune in late winter while dormant, removing dead, damaged or crossing branches and developing one main leader while the tree is young. Avoid topping and unnecessary large cuts on mature trees.

Collect fallen nuts in autumn when the thick green husks turn brown and split into four sections; remove the husks, discard damaged nuts and dry sound nuts in a ventilated, squirrel-proof place before storage. Seed-grown trees often take 15-25 years or longer to produce a substantial crop; grafted trees may bear sooner, and crops vary considerably between years.

Late autumn

Plant dormant nursery trees where the ground is workable, or defer planting until spring in very cold regions.

Late winter

Check young trees for competing leaders and remove damaged or crossing branches.

Spring

Refresh the mulch ring and remove grass or weeds around young trees.

Summer

Water young trees deeply during dry spells and check leaves for aphids or chewing damage.

Autumn

Gather ripe fallen nuts promptly before squirrels take them; remove husks and dry the nuts.

Winter

Check young trunks for rabbit, vole or deer damage and fit a ventilated guard where needed.

• Use as a specimen tree on a large lawn, leaving space to appreciate the mature bark and autumn colour.
• Include in an eastern North American woodland planting with oaks, serviceberries and shade-tolerant groundcover.
• Plant along the sunny edge of a food forest or nut orchard, with another compatible hickory nearby.
• Use in a large wildlife garden where fallen nuts and natural leaf litter can remain.

Garden styles it suits: Woodland, Wildlife garden, Grand estate, Autumn colour, Food forest and Homestead.

Plant it with: White oak, Serviceberry, Eastern redbud, Christmas fern, Wild ginger and Pennsylvania sedge.

Wildlife: Nuts feed squirrels, chipmunks, mice and birds, including jays. The foliage supports many moth caterpillars, and loose bark provides shelter, including roosting sites for some North American bats.

• Poor establishment after transplanting: choose a small tree, avoid disturbing the roots and water consistently during establishment.
• Aphids and sticky honeydew: tolerate light infestations and encourage natural predators; rinse accessible foliage with water if needed.
• Leaf spots or anthracnose: usually cosmetic on established trees; collect badly affected fallen leaves and avoid wetting foliage when watering.
• Weevil larvae in nuts: collect nuts promptly, discard infested nuts and remove spoiled nuts from beneath the tree to reduce carry-over.

Not known to be toxic to people, cats, dogs or horses; the kernels are edible for people. Whole nuts, shells and husks can cause choking or intestinal blockage in pets, and mouldy nuts can cause serious poisoning, especially in dogs. Do not let animals eat fallen, spoiled nuts.

• Shellbark hickory (Carya laciniosa)

  Also has shaggy bark, but usually has seven leaflets rather than five, stouter twigs and larger nuts; it is especially associated with moist bottomlands.

• Pignut hickory (Carya glabra)

  Often has five leaflets too, but its mature bark stays comparatively tight and ridged; its smaller, often pear-shaped nuts have thinner husks.

• Mockernut hickory (Carya tomentosa)

  Usually has seven to nine leaflets with noticeably hairy undersides and leaf stalks; mature bark is ridged rather than hanging in long loose strips.

Shagbark refers to the long, peeling strips of mature bark; Carya comes from the Greek word for nut, and ovata means egg-shaped.

Propagation. Grow from fresh nuts protected from rodents, either sown outdoors in autumn or given several months of cold, moist stratification before spring sowing. Seedlings vary in nut quality; named nut selections are propagated by grafting, usually by specialist nurseries.

Accepted botanical name

Carya ovata

In the US and Canada

Native in Canada and the lower 48 states.

Native range

Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky and Louisiana.

Measured

Average height 1500 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.