I'm considering planting a Katsura. I understand that Cercidiphyllum japonicum can grow to 150' in the wild. Do I seriously have to plan for it to get that big in my yard? giving it 50' radius of free space on all sides? Can I plant it closer than that to other trees? thanks very much for any advice.
Most individuals of a species do not grow as big as the biggest examples known. And the giants can be quite old. But the value to the gardener of knowning how big a particular tree can get is that it shows the essential character of that tree, in this case that it is not a small shrubby species suitable for smaller spaces. Unless your grounds are palatial the Katsura tree may come to dominate your lot in time and should be placed accordingly. If your place is big enough to plant typical examples of this at all. You could, of course choose the less vigorous 'Heronswood Globe' or one of the haystack weepers like 'Pendulum'. If these are available to you in your location. A normal-growing Katsura tree in Seattle, planted on lake bottom soil was 84' tall with a trunk 10'11" around and an average crown spread of 63' during 1993. Another, in the Seattle arboretum was drawn up by competing trees to a height of 102' ca. 2005. An additional lofty in the same collection had reached 90' by that time.
I wouldn't call it palatial, but I have 2 acres. I have a place where it would be welcome to dominate. I can give it 100' across on 2 opposite sides, but only about 70' on the other 2 sides--if we draw a rectangle around the potential tree--where there are some other smaller trees. I'm wondering if that's enough for the roots. There is plenty of room for the crown.
