Spacing & sowing

Plant spacing

19 ft 8 in

In-row spacing

19 ft 8 in

Between rows

24 ft 7 in

Square-foot density

Not suited to SFG

Growing

Type

Tree · Perennial

Botanical family

Mixed / other

Sunlight

Needs full sun, and will not make anything of less.

Watering

Water through the first 2-3 seasons, then leave it to itself.

Feeding

Feed only through the first 3-4 years.

Frost tolerant

Yes

Flowering

April

Pruning

Almost none — shape it in winter while it is young, then stop.

Overwintering

Fully hardy; it needs nothing at all over winter.

Through the year

• Mar–Apr Bud Break
• Apr–Apr Spring Growth
• Apr–Nov Flowering
• Nov–Dec Leaf Fall
• Jan–Mar Leaf Fall

Companions

Birch, Rowan, Heather, Blueberries

Pests & problems

• Adelgids & woolly aphids Larch adelgid on the needles
• Canker Larch canker (Lachnellula willkommii) on the stems
• Honey fungus Honey fungus at the roots
• Sudden oak death Phytophthora ramorum, the sudden larch death

Garden allies

Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. ★ companion plant

• Green lacewing Chrysoperla carnea
  Hunts Adelgids & woolly aphids

  Its bristly larvae — "aphid lions" — impale aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mite colonies, eating hundreds a week. Adults feed on nectar and pollen from small open flowers and overwinter in hollow stems left standing.

  Plant nearby CilantroCosmosDillSunflowerYarrow
• Ladybird (lady beetle) Coccinellidae
  Hunts Adelgids & woolly aphids

  The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.

  Plant nearby CalendulaCilantroCosmosDillFennelYarrow