Honey Locust

Honey locusts are known for their abundant, honey sweet, gooey pods. Improved honey locusts can have up to 30% sugar! 

A good honeylocust tree in a pasture can double the food available for animals in a good year, dropping their high energy pods in the winter when energy needs are high.

Their thin dappled shade combined with their nitrogen fixing also allows grass to grow well, as long as they don't shade more than 30-50% of the land.

Honey locusts are also known for their gigantic, multi-pronged thorns. No one is quite sure why this tree decided to grow such incredible thorns, although some people guess they might have deterred giant ground sloths and mastodons back in the day. 

We've collected our seed from improved versions of thornless honeylocust with giant juicy pods from the John W. Hershey plantings. This doesn't mean they'll be as big and juicy as their parents, but it gives them a chance to be that good... or even better! It also doesn't guarantee they'll be thornless, but it again gives them a chance!

Our seedlings are 1 year-old, and we select and ship only seedlings that do not have thorns. However, some can develop thorns in year 2 or 3. The vast majority of trees that will produce thorns will have them by year 3. At that time, assuming you don't want thorny trees, you can either cull all thorny trees or use them as rootstock for grafting thornless varieties.

Also, these trees may have recessive thorny genes, meaning their seedlings may be thorny, and some trees when stressed will turn from thornless to thorny. However, if you'd like to work with some of these amazing trees in your pasture this is a good place to start.

1 year-old seedling bare root plants approx. 8-20" tall

*Ship in spring and fall

Hardiness zone: 3+

Mature height: 30-50 ft.