Golden Rain Tree
Koelreuteria paniculata
Its troubles are all above ground — dead wood and marked leaves, nothing down at the root.
- Type
- Tree · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Foliage color
- Green · Gold and chartreuse
- Flower color
- Yellow
- Sunlight
- Full sun
- Feeding
- All-purpose balanced
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- July
- Apr–Jul Bud Break
- Jul–Aug Flowering
- Aug–Oct Growing
- Oct–Dec Leaf Fall
- Dec–Dec Winter Dormancy
- Jan–Apr Winter Dormancy
- Plant spacing
- 23 ft
- In-row spacing
- 23 ft
- Between rows
- 28 ft 8 in
- Square-foot density
- Not suited to SFG
- Root system
- Woody, shallow and far-reaching
- Working depth
- 12–24 in
- Can reach
- 4 ft down where the soil allows
- Spread
- 46–69 ft across, about 2–3× the width of the plant
Almost all of a tree’s roots are in the top two feet of soil, where the air is, and they run out well past the branch tips. The deep taproot most people picture belongs to the seedling; the tree grows out of it and spends the rest of its life spreading sideways instead.
The habit is Golden Rain Tree’s own; the figures are what that habit usually comes to at this size, not a measurement of this species. Roots follow the soil either way: a compacted pan, a high water table or heavy clay stops them well short of any of it, and deep open ground lets them go further.
- Canker Sunken, cracked patches of dead bark that can girdle and kill branches. Prune back to clean healthy wood in dry weather and improve tree vigor.
- Coral spot Orange-pink pustules on dead or weakened wood that can spread into live branches. Prune out affected wood to a clean cut, leaving no snags or stubs.
- Leaf spot Brown or black spots that spread and merge in wet weather, sometimes with yellow halos. Pick off affected leaves, clear fallen ones, and water at the base.
Gleditsia, Cercis, Catalpa, Ornamental grasses
Green-leaved trees, like this one.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com