Eastern Leatherwood

Size, growth and what to expect

Eastern leatherwood opens its pale lemon-yellow bells, only a quarter inch long, in March and April. It grows slowly, 6 inches to a foot a year in its youth on an average site, the figure our growth estimator uses for a slow grower of its size. It is long-lived and slow-growing. Expect a shrub 4 to 6 feet tall and as wide, and up to 10 feet at most.

The green fruit that follows the flowers is up to half an inch across, ripens toward red in June and July, and goes to birds and small mammals. The twigs and bark are so pliable that Native Americans used them for bowstrings, fishing line, baskets and rope.

It grows wild in the forest understory from southern Quebec west to Minnesota and south to Florida, Alabama and Oklahoma, in low bottom woods, rich wooded slopes and streambanks. It will not stand dry ground.

How to grow Eastern Leatherwood

Eastern leatherwood is a shade plant first. Put it under a high canopy or on the north side of a building, in moist soil loose with leaf litter. Ground that stays damp much of the year is no problem. Set plants 4 feet apart at the front of a shade bed.

We ship leatherwood potted. Plant it in the dormant season and break up the root ball as little as you can. Dig twice the width of the pot, keep the top of the ball flush with grade, and put back the same soil with nothing added. A few inches of leaf mulch, pulled back from the stems, matches what it grows in. No stake is needed. Sow the seed outdoors as soon as the fruit ripens in June or July, with or without its pulp, a quarter inch deep. It comes up the next spring.

Water through the first two summers whenever the surface dries, because this shrub has no drought tolerance at all. Voles girdle stems under deep winter mulch, so keep the ring thin. It shapes itself and needs no pruning.

A single leatherwood sets fruit without a partner, even in a cold spring when few insects fly. Afternoon sun scorches the leaves of eastern leatherwood, so err toward more shade. The bark and sap can irritate skin, so wear gloves when you cut it.