My next door neighbor calls these trees 'weeds' and really hates them. I can't say I really blame them. The problem with Honey Locus is that they are root starters. They send out long tough roots and new trees pop up everywhere. But in the springtime when they bloom, they're gorgeous.
I wish I had someway to put a "scratch 'n sniff" on my blog, because the Honey Locus also has the sweetest smell, too. They don't stay in bloom very long either.
The Honey Locus also has thorns like a rose bush. Enlarge the picture below and you can see thorns on the branches where they branch out. It was because of these thorns that I planted the Honey Locus in my yard. I had attempted several times to get other types of trees to grow, but I had a lot of children (mine & neighbors) that spent many hours playing in my yard. I tried fences and barriers of all sorts, but my saplings kept getting run over and dying. A friend that lives on the river said that I could come dig up some Honey Locus and give them a try. I planted six and two survived. The kids seemed to be more cautious about running over these trees for some reason.
The only other problem with these trees is that they have a tendency to be a bit brittle. They suck up the water in the ground like crazy, which is why they are usually found close to bodies of water.
I've got my maple trees growing good and strong, I probably should cut down the Honey Locus, but I would REALLY miss the fragrant flowers in the springtime.
I wish I had someway to put a "scratch 'n sniff" on my blog, because the Honey Locus also has the sweetest smell, too. They don't stay in bloom very long either.
The Honey Locus also has thorns like a rose bush. Enlarge the picture below and you can see thorns on the branches where they branch out. It was because of these thorns that I planted the Honey Locus in my yard. I had attempted several times to get other types of trees to grow, but I had a lot of children (mine & neighbors) that spent many hours playing in my yard. I tried fences and barriers of all sorts, but my saplings kept getting run over and dying. A friend that lives on the river said that I could come dig up some Honey Locus and give them a try. I planted six and two survived. The kids seemed to be more cautious about running over these trees for some reason.
The only other problem with these trees is that they have a tendency to be a bit brittle. They suck up the water in the ground like crazy, which is why they are usually found close to bodies of water.
I've got my maple trees growing good and strong, I probably should cut down the Honey Locus, but I would REALLY miss the fragrant flowers in the springtime.
4 comments:
They DO smell wonderful!
My sister and BIL have a "grove" of them at the farm, and they provide wonderful shade - the picnic tables and grill and fire pit are all out under the locusts...
I'm also told they make decent firewood... :)
Looks like I my find out how good they are for firewood, one of them has a larger area that appears to be dead.
I had the exact same experience young sapling trees being destroyed by children or just mysteriously being snapped off by someone else. Anyway, I had a black globe locust that had to be cut down due to bug infestation. Shoot began coming up off of the roots, and I kept one and let it grow thinking it would be another Black Globe Locust. Instead, it has thorns, and this year flowered for the first time. I googled it, and found your post, and the pictures are exactly like what I have. Thanks for posting this. Oh and yes, they do smell wonderful! Michele
Michele, glad to have helped you out. My folks have a black locus in their yard. It has thorns like daggers or swords. They can get VERY large. I planted the black locus when I was in high school, a neighbor lady had given me a start and told me it was an olive tree. WRONG. But the tree grew so well, and so tall that my dad just let it grow. It's a huge tree now.
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