“Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Summertime is always the best of what might be.” — Charles Bowden

“A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.” — James Dent

August has arrived as the heat and humidity continue with a splash of fall in the early morning and late evening hours. And we all know that August leads into September, which leads into October and cooler temps. It’s a great time to be in the great outdoors. Plan your tree list for fall planting and take a closer look at the thornless common honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos form inermis).

This tree has caught the attention of arborists, community foresters and homeowners all across America. It is easy to plant, grows fast with fairly strong branches, is aesthetically pleasing and is durable enough to cope with most urban settings. In natural settings, it grows in both the thorned (with thorns up to 12 inches long) and the thornless forms. Throughout much of the South, it is still referred to as the Confederate pintree since its thorns were once used to pin uniforms together during the Civil War.

In general, the thornless honeylocust grows to a height of 30-70 feet and a spread of 30-70 feet at maturity. Its fast rate of growth may produce more than 24 inches per year in height. It tolerates a wide range of soils, including acidic, alkaline, moist, dry and salty conditions with a modest tolerance for both flooding and drought. The thornless honeylocust shows off its distinctively yellow leaves in the fall while attracting the attention of many eyes, both amateur and professional alike.

Other characteristics include pinnately or bi-pinnately compound leaves approximately eight inches long with eight-14 leaflets which are the last leaves to emerge in the spring, small greenish-yellow blossoms which are particularly fragrant, large brown seed pods resembling twisted leather straps measuring seven-18 inches long and an oval or round canopy shape.

The thornless honeylocust seed pods and seeds can be consumed by livestock and wildlife including rabbits, deer, and squirrels; and the flowers can provide a good source of food for bees. It is a native tree from Pennsylvania to Nebraska and south to Texas.

It gets the name “honey” from the sweet, honey-like substance found in its pods. And “locust” from the grasshopper-like insect that its seed pods resemble. The Cherokee Indians made bows from its durable and strong wood. Also, fence posts and railroad ties were made from this tree because of its durability and strength.

The thornless common honeylocust can function as specimen plants or as street trees and is suitable for high traffic areas in the landscape. Because their canopy is relatively loose and airy, these trees don’t make effective shade trees if heavy shade is your objective. However, this same canopy characteristic makes them effective lawn trees.

An undesirable characteristic of Gleditsia (thorny or thornless) is the mess created when the seed pods drop in fall. The development of podless types was a major breakthrough and elevated thornless honey locusts to an elite status as a non-messy tree, ideal for low-maintenance landscaping.

Some problems for honeylocusts include insects such as webworm and borers and diseases such as leaf spot and canker disease. However, honeylocusts are deer-resistant trees.

Cultivars include Moraine, which is a seedless male cultivar with a graceful outline and small dark green foliage that turns golden yellow in the fall, and Skyline (Arrowhead), which is a fruitless male cultivar with a pyramidal shape.

And, Suncole (Sunburst) is a deciduous, irregular, fast-growing shade tree with fern-like golden compound leaves and white flowers in spring. Its new foliage is yellow in the spring, then transitions to a greenish-yellow and to light green in the summer. In the fall, the leaves return to the yellow color that defined them in spring. It offers good foliage color for two different seasons of the year. Suncole attains a mature height and spread of about 30-40 feet. Its late leafing out in the spring creates a foliar display that is magnificent. Suncole is podless and non-messy.

Shademaster is a deciduous, irregular, non-messy, fast-growing shade tree whose color evolution conforms more to the norm, beginning in spring with green and ending in the fall with a golden-yellow foliage. Other cultivars include Beatrice, Continental, Fairview, Green Arbor, Halka, Hartselle, Imperial, Lake’s No. 1, Majestic, Mandan, Millwood, Orr, Park, Paul Bunyan, Penn, Royal Green, Stephens, Ward, among others. Go thornless with the honeylocust tree.

Think in terms of native and sustainable plants in the landscape. Keep your hanging baskets and potted plants refreshed with water and food. Remember to feed and water the songbirds, and give your pets the care they need (protect them from this extreme summer heat and humidity). Also, be on lookout for children playing and bicyclists riding along the streets and roadways throughout our communities. And remember to safely share the road with motorcycles. Drive alert and arrive alive. Don’t drive distracted or impaired and don’t text while driving. Help the homeless every chance you get. And, as you receive good deeds, always pay them forward. Let’s keep everyone safe and secure.

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Matthew 7:1.

Seagle is a Sustainability Associate, Golf Environment Organization (Scotland), Agronomist and Horticulturalist, CSI: Seagle (Consulting Services International), Professor Emeritus and Honorary Alumnus, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Associate Editor of The Golf Course, International Journal of Golf Science and Short Term Missionary, Heritage Church, Moultrie. Direct inquiries to csi_seagle@yahoo.com.