Grow and Care for Mountain Mahogany

Grow mountain mahogany in full sun and soil that drains. Mountain mahogany is Cercocarpus betuloides.

Give it full sun and soil that drains, then ease off the water

Mountain mahogany wants sun and a slope that drains. Full sun is the usual home; part sun still grows the shrub if the soil stays dry. [1] Water a new plant through the first two summers. After that, water about once a month in heat, or skip the hose if rain already covers the month. [2] mountain mahogany is an evergreen to semi-evergreen shrub with birch-like leaves, gray bark, and feathery seed tails in late summer. It is a western dry-slope plant in the rose family, not a tropical timber tree. Do not feed it a rich lawn dose. The roots fix nitrogen, so extra fertilizer is not required.

Plant it on a dry slope, at the same depth as the pot

Plant in fall or spring while the soil is workable. Set the root ball even with the surrounding soil. Leave about 10 to 12 feet between shrubs if you want a screen, because the plant can reach that spread at maturity.

1. Plant in fall or spring on a slope or bank that drains.
2. Set the root ball even with the surrounding soil. Do not bury the crown in wet clay.
3. Leave about 10 to 12 feet between plants for a screen, or less if you will prune it narrow.
4. Water after you plant, then water through the first two summers until the roots take.

Prune it for a narrow screen, or cut it back hard

This shrub takes a light cut for a narrow bed or a hedge. It also takes a hard cut to the crown when you need a fresh screen. [3] Cut in late winter, before new growth. Do not remove more than about a third of the live wood in one year unless you mean to start over from the base.

1. Wait until late winter, before the new leaves push.
2. Cut dead, crossing, or long shoots back to an outward side branch.
3. For a narrow screen, shear or thin the sides so the shrub stays in the bed.
4. If the plant is too large, cut it close to the crown. New stems will come from the base.

Not tropical mahogany — and not a redbud or Persian ironwood

Mountain mahogany is named for the color of the heartwood. It is a rose-family shrub, not tropical mahogany. Redbud is Cercis — see How to Grow Redbud. Mountain ironwood is a nursery name for this shrub; Persian ironwood is Parrotia — see How to Grow Persian Ironwood. Hornbeam is another tree sold as ironwood — see How to Grow Hornbeam. Birchleaf is a leaf shape, not a true birch — see How to Grow Birch. If the tag says Cercocarpus betuloides and the seeds carry long feathery tails, you have mountain mahogany.

How to start a new plant from seed

Seed is the usual home start. Collect the fruits when the white plumes look dry, and keep the mix draining. A stem cutting can root, but seed is more reliable. [4]

1. Pick the dry, white-plumed fruits before they blow away. Wear gloves if the hairs irritate your skin.
2. Sow on well-drained mix, barely covered. Fresh seed often sprouts with no pretreatment. A month of cold, moist rest can improve the stand.
3. Keep the mix barely moist, never soggy, in bright light until seedlings appear.
4. Pot up seedlings when they have a few true leaves, and keep the mix draining until you set them on the slope.

Set mountain mahogany on the dry slope, at the same depth as the pot.