Gleditsia Species, Honey Locust, Sweet Locust, Three-Thorned Acacia

On Apr 1, 2016, coriaceous from ROSLINDALE, MA wrote:

This species has been overplanted in North American cities (in its thornless, podless cultivars), because it thrives under city conditions, and because lawn grass can grow in its shade. Fifty years ago, when it was uncommon, it had few problems. But because it's been grown so commonly, its diseases and insect pests have become much more common.

Many commenters below are confusing Honeylocust and Black Locust, despite the attempts of other commenters to distinguish them.

Honeylocust does tend to sucker, but this isn't nearly the problem that it is with Black Locust.

On Nov 2, 2015, pastapicker from Columbus, OH wrote:

What you need to know if you are considering using Honey Locust in your landscaping based on my experience with a 35+ year old, thornless unknown name cultivar:

Pros: attractive lacey foliage, graceful branches, provides dappled shade, survives to at least -20F and tolerates drought and compacted clay soil once established, a very large tree. Leaves do need to be cleared from gutter toppers (will sit on and clog) or patios, but no need to rake in the lawn. My cultivar (whatever it is) does not sucker. This is NOT the locust with the very fragrant, honey scented flowers -- that is the black locust.

Cons: drops hundreds, maybe thousands of large seed pods (I fill up three 35 gallon trash cans every year just from the pods that drop from my neighbor's tre... read moree onto my patio!). These pods do not compost easily but do sprout easily all over the place. I have never noticed any creature (deer, mice, raccoon, chipmunk or squirrel) eating them nor found any farmer that would take them. It is a very large tree and needs plenty of room.

On May 30, 2014, want2buy from Brady, WA wrote:

Somebody said that their honey locust tree (which is illegal and quarantined along with the directly related Black Locust Tree in states like California) was their "Devil Tree." It is. I planted a trendy ornamental that was supposedly an innocent horticultural creation, called the Twisty Baby Locust Tree. It is grafted onto the Black Locust and was supposed to be mild mannered, flowering unreliably and putting out invasive seed pods irregularly too. Only supposed to grow up to 15 feet. It has been lovely. I bought it to commemorate and mourn my baby son, who died due to stillbirth. HOWEVER. It has been a few years and last spring we received unrecognizable woody THICK sucker-like branches coming out of the ground. The double sets of needles along each stem were up to 2 inches long... read more and perfectly horizontal in relation to the branches. We mowed all 5 of them down. Now they are emerging again.

At first I thought these might be from some thorny Barberry bushes (also invasive), which I am pulling out. NOPE. After research, I have come to learn that these are highlly prolific suckers coming some 20 yards underground to settle elsewhere in our yard. The Twisty Baby is fairly innocuous but it is founded on the black locust, which is putting out these horribly invasive 4-5 foot tall suckers. They emerge within weeks of having no sign of previous existence.

If you have these, you absolutely need to have a professional cut down your tree, or do it yourself if you can do it safely. Over a period of several dry (no-rain) mild temperature days, you must apply a brush/tree killer (spelled something like Trilopyr) in a high percentage or at least 15 percent, combined with a fuel or natural oil that penetrates through to the tree's roots. These roots can go on for 20 or more feet and are so hard to dig up. They can go through your foundation and destroy pavers etc. We have a fertile yard and so they are very happy there, but this is a problem all over the country, and in England.

Crossbow from DOW chemicals has been recommended to me. If it's a large tree, you must "frill" the outsides of the tree, through the bark and into the pulp with a hatchet or axe. This is a seriously hard wood in an older tree. My twisty baby will be easier to kill as it is still young, yet I will have to cut it down to where the bottom tree actually is (the black locust part). Diluting the herbicide and applying properly is essential. Many paint the stump with the herbicide (heavy duty). Luckily this sticks to woody growth only, travelling down the roots and stump. HOWEVER, you must collect any seed pods and branches, etc. Any suckers from elsewhere. Triple bag and take to landfill or put in trash. I suppose you could also burn unpoisoned branches and pods but do it thoroughly. Any large trees should be removed professionally after they are dead.

I can't emphasize how important this is. They are invasive and have been coasting along the market because the Twisty Baby is beautiful--our weed control board in WA state is clearly not linking the twisty baby to its illegal/quarantined honey and black locusts. The results of these terrible things will be the same: Thorns the size of hands and even in younger stages, thick strong tire-popping types of thorns. The tree is not manageable and will invade native species in your area. Black Locusts and Honey Locusts usually flower and cast out dozens of successful seed pods annually, and can grow to around 70 feet tall. As you see, no matter how dear the tree is to you and your aesthetic, I had to make the hard call. Luckily I never planted my sons ashes there as I figured we might one day movie. I'm glad I didn't but it will an additional and painful irony. Better than ruining our neighbor's yards and beautiful creeds and rivers as well as destroying precious farmlands and grazing areas. What a terrible terrible experience. Along with so many other terribly invasive plants I have or inherited, these were all sold legally from Home Depot or better--very reputable nurseries. It is just unforgivable and so wrong.

On May 2, 2012, Currahee from Ellijay, GA wrote:

The honey locust was known to the Cherokee as kalasetsi. It was one of their principal sources of a sweetener. In modern Cherokee, usually Anglicized as kalseji, the word has come to mean sugar or candy. The name of Cullasaja [NC] is derived from kalasetsi, so that a reasonably good translation would be "Sugartown." More detailed information can be found by Googling "Cherokee Place Names."

On Jun 10, 2010, Podfarmer wrote:

Greetings

I am a South African farmer and we have 40-60 year old Honey Locust on the farm as a fodder reserve. Very positive experience -as they grow in clay, survive drought and even survive complete ring barking by goats.

Pods drop exactly the right time and ruminants kill any suckers. Trees survive PH of 4 and 600mm of rain, 40 C summers and -10 winters.

The trees were planted by a grandfather as a experiment, and it has paid off. I now want to experiement with the Millwood cultivar. If there is anybody that can assist with graftwood would appreciate it a lot. Want more pods, faster growth and all the good stuff. Prefer thorns.

Respectfully

Justice

On Dec 18, 2009, davecito from Carrboro, NC wrote:

I gotta defend the honey locust.

Like many, if not most leguminous trees and lianas (mesquite, kudzu, pacay, many others), they can spread very aggressively, and can be very challenging to eradicate, so know what you're getting into, and do not be careless in where you plant it.

There are thornless cultivars, so if you want a mature plant, that's what to look for.

This all noted, they are handsome trees, with great foliage, which is beautiful in the fall.

They are also another sweet legume: like pacay, tamarind and mesquite, the pods are both edible and sweet. The beans themselves are nearly worthless, from a culinary standpoint, as they degenerate into slop when cooked. But the pulp in green pods is delicious. Do not confuse ... read morethe honey locust with the black locust, which is toxic, and is native to the same areas.

The mature pods turn a deep reddish brown color, become woody, very tough and inedible, due to fermentation that gives them an acidic odor; the pods apparently have some use in beer making, perhaps for this reason. The dried pods might make for a good, instant percussion instrument - the beans rattle in the pods like maracas.

I began some seedlings from dried pods collected in my town - they are street trees in parts of downtown. The seeds germinated in a few weeks with no pre-treatment, and have been steady, but not aggressive in growth. They develop a fairly deep taproot even when very small, so transplanting into a deeper pot will be needed within a month of sprouting. The seedlings have petite compound leaves that slowly unfurl, like fronds on a fern.

Even though mature (and young) plants are very hardy to cold, they need steady watering when young, and the lanky seedlings are quite vulnerable to wind damage, so when young either provide good shelter from wind, or keep in pots indoors until they become a little sturdier.

On Apr 12, 2009, Wolfgang_E_B from Fulton, MO wrote:

This tree grows wild all over Missouri's woodlands and meadows. When I first moved here, I discovered a row of them growing along a fence in a field across the street. I quickly fell in love with the gorgeous fern-like foliage, the golden fall color, the deep maroon velvet seed pods, and most of all, the magnificent red-maroon thorns.

Old honey locusts that I've seen growing in the woods are tall towers with thorny trunks and a high canopy of foliage. Younger trees tend toward a broader, spreading growth habit, with many branches hanging close to the ground.

I just started 3 seedlings this spring and look forward to planting them in my yard.

On Feb 21, 2008, lobsterandi from Minneapolis, MN (Zone 4a) wrote:

Well.... I read everyone else's horror stories and thought I had to do a little defending of this plant.

I guess it depends on what kind of seeds you're getting, but I've never had much of a problem with suckers or thorns. Yes, there are some thorns but... they don't seem to do much.

The leaves are very nice, though, and this tree is pretty rare this far up north. I haven't had any babies popping up - but that might be because of my zone. I planted it to fill a big space in a wide open yard, and for that purpose it was wonderful. The leaves are nice and lacy and light, so the area under the tree still gets plenty of sun to grow a nice lawn and some shade liking plants.

On Jun 6, 2006, Crimson from Clarksville, TN (Zone 6b) wrote:

When we moved into our new home I first saw this tree, not knowing what to call it we called it 'The Devil Tree'.

Little did I know that is the kindest thing I would ever say about it! Horrendous, appalling, vicious, a truly horrible noxious, invasive weed of a tree... without the right to have anything remotely nice ever said about it.

Once you have this you may as well move, you'll never get rid of it even if you burn the whole area. The thorns are poisonous, a scratch WILL get infected... if you step on a spine, even with shoes you will have to get a pliers to remove the HUGE vicious spine from deep in your foot... makes cactus look cuddly.

So horribly invasive that overnight it will spring up many spiney babies up to 8 ft away from the o... read moreriginal tree! Cut it down, it won't kill it! It seems to thrive even without any branches or leaves, I will have to poison my ground with stump killer to get rid of it... I'm not sure even that will work. Even a small piece of root left in the ground will sprout into a tree, the roots are brittle so as you try to pull it up it simply breaks leaving most of the root behind.

I can't imagine anyone EVER wanting or liking this tree. The bean pods (before we cut it down) were a real mess/very time consuming to rake up and overwhelming in quantity... clogging gutters and littering the yard like brown piles of poo!

On Jul 13, 2005, Z71JROD from Clovis, NM (Zone 7a) wrote:

These are very nice shade trees and very quick growing. They are widely used in this area. The only real complaint is that the seed pods can make a huge mess. My neighbor picked up 22 bags of pods last season. I have not had too many problems with the suckers but I have seen this problem at some other places. Overall a good tree though.

On Nov 26, 2004, frostweed from Josephine, Arlington, TX (Zone 8a) wrote:

We have a small Honey locust that we dug up from a builder's lot and moved it to our yard. We love the foliage in summer and Fall, but it does have very long thorns, whick we remove from the trunk so no one will be hurt. We have pollarded the tree so that it won't get out of hand, it grows very fast, but we are keeping under control that way. So far no root suckers we shall see what happens as it gets older.
Gleditsia triacanthos ,Honey locust, is ntive to Texas and other States.

On May 20, 2004, patp from Summerville, SC (Zone 8a) wrote:

We purchased the Thornless Honey Locust tree (Gleditsia triacanthos inermis) in April 1993 for what now seems to be a ridiculous price of $3.97. My husband planted it in an area where builders had dumped gravel over already rock-hard clay soil, and I swore it would never grow there. Little did I know! It's a beautiful tree with fern-like lacy foliage which becomes golden yellow in the fall. Long, dark brown twisted seed pods ripen over winter. The roots have stayed below ground, for the most part, and have never produced suckers. A very few seedlings emerged in cultivated flower beds but have definitely not been a problem. (USDA Zone 8a, Summerville, SC)