Ohio Buckeye

Size, growth and what to expect

Ohio buckeye grows at a moderate pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. Expect 20 to 40 feet with a rounded crown as wide, and less often 75 feet. Most trees live 80 to 100 years.

Upright clusters of greenish yellow flowers, 4 to 7 inches long, open from March to May, after the leaves. The prickly husk splits in September and October to drop one to three glossy brown seeds, each with a pale eye. Hummingbirds visit the flowers, fox squirrels eat some of the seeds, and the leaves turn yellow to orange in fall.

It grows wild from western Pennsylvania, Ohio and southern Michigan west to Iowa, and south to eastern Kansas, central Texas and central Alabama. It favors river bottoms and stream banks. It has been planted north and east of that range, and it escapes from planting in New York.

How to grow Ohio Buckeye

Ohio buckeye does best in part shade and also grows in full sun or shade. Give it a deep, rich, moist soil that drains well. In full sun or drought the leaves scorch and can look ragged by late summer. It drops twigs, husks and leaves, so plant it 25 feet from a wall and away from patios and drives. Keep it at least 15 feet from overhead wires, and set trees 30 feet apart.

Saplings ship potted. Ohio buckeye grows a strong taproot in its first year and is very hard to move once it settles in, so plant it young and leave it in place. Plant in the dormant season, in a hole wider than the pot and deep enough for the taproot. Set the root flare at the soil line, put the native soil back in, and mulch a wide ring clear of the trunk. Ohio buckeye seed dries out and dies quickly, so sow it fresh in fall. Set each seed an inch or two deep with the pale scar down. For spring, hold it damp in the refrigerator for about 120 days first.

Water deeply every week through the first two summers, and in dry spells after that. Deer and rabbits seldom damage it. It leafs out early, and a late frost sometimes kills the young leaves.

Each flower cluster carries male flowers and flowers with both male and female parts. Its close relatives set seed as well with their own pollen as with another tree's, so one tree should bear alone. Trees begin to bear at about 8 years. The seeds, leaves and bark are poisonous, so keep children, pets and livestock from eating them. Leaf blotch can brown the leaves without lasting harm, and powdery mildew, anthracnose and Japanese beetles also appear.