If you’re looking for a showstopping tree to add to your yard, here’s one for you: Celtis sinensis ‘Green Cascade’. It’s a weeping Chinese hackberry, and it always reaches “let’s-stop-and-talk-about-it” status on our arboretum’s garden tours.
Thanks to its weeping form, ‘Green Cascade’ works well on a trellis.
Photo Credit: David Creech
“Hackberry,” you say? Yes, I know it’s almost a slur in the South, but before you scowl, curse or take on a fighting stance, hear me out: This isn’t just any hackberry – it really is a special-use tree. No, there’s no blinding color show in spring or fall. But this tree’s claim to fame is simply how tragically geotropically challenged it is. It’s a real leader in the “upward-growing” movement.
‘Green Cascade’ really deserves some defense for its good characteristics, primarily its strong weeping nature. Its buds produce shoots with just one goal: head straight to the center of the Earth. There are no tendrils and no twining. And yes, if you plant it on the ground without support, you’ve got nothing but a hackberry snake. But give ‘Green Cascade’ a high-visibility, full-sun spot – and tie it, prop it, stake it, lift it or drape it – and you’ve got that showstopper I’m talking about. This tree’s always a conversation piece!
In the SFA Mast Arboretum in Nacogdoches, TX, our largest specimen separates the daylily and herb gardens. Its leaves are glossy green and the smooth, light-gray trunk and major limbs are handsomely muscled. It’s easy to train, but boy is this plant ever tough! Chinese hackberries carry the reputation of durability – and of being a survivor under the worst of conditions. ‘Green Cascade’ is no different. And with good care, it’ll grow quickly.
Yes, this is definitely a special tree if you’re looking for something a bit different and are willing to do the extra work to prop it up. The fact is, there are few trees that try to be vines that can make quite as much of a statement as the outstanding ‘Green Cascade’.
