Species · Deciduous trees like maple and elm
Chinese hackberry
Celtis sinensis
Chinese hackberry develops smooth grey bark that mottles attractively with age, not unlike a beech, alongside fast growth and small leaves that reduce well under repeated pruning. It backbuds readily from old wood, making it forgiving of a hard structural correction even on an established tree.
Care at a glance
- Watering
- Never let it dry out fully in leaf. Roughly every 2 days in spring, 1 in summer, 2 in autumn and 7 in winter.
- Light
- Full sun to light shade.
- Winter
- Hardy once established; loses its leaves and rests through winter. Protect it when the forecast drops below -8 °C.
- Feeding
- Every 14 days, Apr to Sep, paused in the hottest weeks.
- Repotting
- Every 2 to 3 years, as buds swell, in Feb or Mar.
- Growth
- Fast growing. Hardy in zones 6 to 9.
The work calendar
| Work | JJan | FFeb | MMar | AApr | MMay | JJun | JJul | AAug | SSep | OOct | NNov | DDec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prune | Mar | Apr | Nov | |||||||||
| Wire | Jan | Feb | Mar | Nov | Dec | |||||||
| Pinch | May | Jun | Jul | |||||||||
| Defoliate | Jun |