Honeylocust (GLEDITSIA TRIACANTHOS INERMIS) - 'Prairie Silk'
Prairie Silk® Honeylocust is a uniquely hardy selection from Manitoba exhibiting good rounded form with bright green foliage. The strong horizontally-tiered branching gives this cultivar a good resistance to wind damage. Does not form pods. Maintains attractive bright green foliage during the summer months changing to golden-yellow in the fall. The bi-pinnately and pinnately compound foliage is reminiscent of fern leaves and provides a light, filtered shade. Deer tend to leave honeylocusts alone and they are highly adaptable, tolerant, and reliable.
'Prairie Silk’ grows around 45 feet tall and 35 feet wide and is considered to be one of the very hardiest Honeylocust varieties and is cold hardy to USDA Hardiness zone 3. Also known as 'Dursan' Honeylocust, 'Prairie Silk' requires full sun and well-drained soils. It is very adaptable to pH and tolerant of more alkali soils. Has shown good drought tolerance, urban tolerance, and has very little leaf litter in the fall making clean up easier than most shade trees with larger leaves. Makes an excellent specimen shade tree in the landscape and is unique enough as a stand alone or to offset other textures and shapes of trees. Best pruned in late winter once the threat of extreme cold has passed. It has a high canopy with a typical clearance of 7 feet from the ground, and should not be planted underneath power lines. As it matures, the lower branches of this tree can be strategically removed to create a high enough canopy to support unobstructed human traffic underneath. It grows at a fast rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 70 years or more.