PlantFiles: Northern Pecan
Carya illinoinensis

Pecans grow quickly in my southern Virginia. They are planted in groves and orchards. They are strong trees and gave us no problems other than hurricane problems. We planted three 1 foot tall seeddlings in 1980 and they zoomed to over a hundred feet in 8 years, but provided thick trunks, strong wood and plentiful nuts.

Here in Central Florida, pecan trees grow weakly. They don't get quite as much winter chill as they should. They are a beautiful, very large tree so if you have a small yard this is not the tree for you.

I have about 15 of these trees in my yard.One is over a hundred years old.They are beautiful trees that provide lots of shade.They are not problem free however.They will shed lots of limbs and sticks after storms(however I dont mind picking them up).Make sure to avoid injuries to the tree,pecans grow slowly which means they heal slowly.Also,if you live near the coast,plant them far away from the house,there large canopys make them easily uprooted by hurricanes.

I have nothing but good things to say about the pecan tree.
We have two volunteer native trees that are beautiful, 30 and 20 years old. The 20 year old is just starting to bear fruit and the other one has been producing for about 10 years. The squirrels have a great time stealing the nuts and planting them all over the place, which gives us a lot of seedlings to pot and give to friends. However we don't get to pick many pecans from our trees, since the squirrels love them so much.
We do have neighbors who have cultivar pecan trees and they share with us because they they don't like to pick them, so we pick shell them and give some to them after they have been cleaned.
Carya Illinoiensis is native to Texas and other States.

A great shade tree if grown away from patios and driveways as the nuts can cause a terrible mess as they drop and the leaf stems are messy in the fall.

Pecan trees can reach heights of 70 feet and live to 100 or more years, so pick your site carefully. They make great shade trees and the nuts they produce are incredibly tasty, especially the native variety. The natives are harder to crack than paper shell varieties, but worth it in my opinion. They really don't produce flowers, but green "catkins" about three inches long in early spring. The nuts are mature by fall, in time for Thanksgiving pecan pies.

Drawbacks: The natives do self-seed prolifically ~ I am forever pulling seedlings up out of my flowerbeds under the trees. If the catkins aren't swept off of concrete patios when they drop in spring, they will stain it.