Yellow Buckeye

Size, growth and what to expect

Yellow buckeye grows at a moderate pace, about a foot and a half a year in our growth estimator. Expect 50 to 75 feet with a crown 30 to 50 feet wide. In 1982 the largest known tree stood 140 feet tall.

Upright clusters of yellow flowers, 6 to 7 inches long, open from April to June. Hummingbirds and bees come for the nectar. The smooth, leathery husk, 2 to 3 inches long, drops one to three glossy brown seeds with a pale eye in September. Squirrels eat some of them.

It grows wild from southwestern Pennsylvania down the Ohio River valley to southeastern Illinois, and south to northern Alabama and Georgia. It is most abundant in the Great Smoky Mountains, in coves, ravines and on north slopes from 1,500 to 6,100 feet.

How to grow Yellow Buckeye

Yellow buckeye wants full sun or part shade and a deep, moist, rich soil that drains well, slightly acid. It takes brief flooding and the toxin of black walnut roots, but on dry or windy sites the leaves scorch. Plant it 30 feet from a wall and away from drives, since it drops husks, twigs and leaves through summer and fall. Keep it more than 50 feet from overhead wires, and set trees 40 feet apart.

Saplings ship potted. Yellow buckeye grows a large taproot and is hard to move once established, 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. Buckeye seed dies if it dries out, 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 seldom browse it, but guard the young trunk against rabbits and voles for the first few winters. Train it to one leader while it is young, since it needs pruning for a strong structure.

Each flower cluster carries male flowers and, near its base, flowers with both male and female parts, so there are no male and female trees to pair. Bees and hummingbirds visit yellow buckeye flowers for nectar. In related horse chestnuts most seed comes from crosses between trees, though a tree's own pollen sets some, so a second tree nearby improves the crop. The seeds and young shoots are poisonous, so keep children, pets and livestock from eating them. Leaf blotch can brown the leaves in a wet summer, and buckeye lacebug can yellow them by midsummer. Powdery mildew and Japanese beetles are occasional.