Sourwood is a native tree that offers year-round interest.
It features glossy green leaves, tassels of bell-shaped, white flowers in summer, and spectacular autumn color.
Even in winter, its deeply fissured dark gray bark stands out in the landscape.
Credit:Kindra Clineff
The sourwood gets its name from the sour-tasting leaves.
The flowers are followed by yellow-green seed capsules that are almost as attractive as the blooms.
This tree can be tricky to find at a nursery, but its well worth the search.
Credit:Bob Stefko
Use this guide to find out how to plant and grow a sourwood in your yard.
However, deep shade results in few flowers and less dramatic fall foliage color.
In a home landscape, place it infull sunor part shade.
Credit:Kindra Clineff
double-check it will have adequate space to reach its mature size without encroaching on buildings or other plants.
It does not tolerate air pollution, so avoid planting sourwood near a busy street.
Plant while the tree is dormantin spring before new growth emerges or in fall after leaves have dropped.
Credit:Denny Schrock
Examine the roots and remove any that appear damaged.
Set the tree in the hole on top of the center mound and spread the roots out evenly.
When you finish backfilling, the tree should sit slightly higher than it did in the pot.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Water the tree thoroughly.
Bob Stefko
Sourwood Tree Care Tips
Once established, sourwood requires minimal care.
Its not a fussy tree, and it has few serious pests or diseases.
These conditions should ensure good flowering and brilliant fall color.
Soil and Water
Sourwood thrives in moist, well-drained soil with high organic matter content.
Sourwood does not tolerate compacted or alkaline soil or poor drainage.
Newly planted sourwoods should be watered deeply every week during their first two growing seasons.
After that, they tolerate some drought.
Temperature and Humidity
Sourwood trees grow inUSDA Zones5-9 and thrive in cool, upland environments.
They can be found in the wild growing on wooded slopes or along streambanks in the Appalachian Mountains.
They dont withstand intense heat; extended warm, dry periods often cause leaves to drop.
Pruning
Little pruning is necessary with sourwoods as they have a pleasing natural habit.
You may occasionally need toremove a damaged or broken branch, which can be done whenever you notice it.
Cuttings are notoriously difficult to root.
The seed is tiny and must be collected in the fall from the ripened seed capsules.
It will be several years before the seedlings are large enough to transplant into the garden.
Albomarginatum
Oxydendrum arboreumAlbomarginatum sports green leaves with white margins.
Some leaves are marbled with white.
Its fall color is spectacular.
Charm
This cultivar has a symmetrical, conical habit.
It is the earliest sourwood tree to display brilliant fall foliage color.
Many often grow nearby in the wild.
It produces large clusters of red, orange, or yellow flowers in the spring.
It is a shrubby evergreen groundcover with reddish new growth that turns deep green.
It produces small, creamy white spring-to-summer flowers.
Its a 4-to-8-foot-tall shrub that bears unusual fragrant deep burgundy spring flowers.
Its yellow fall foliage contrasts beautifully with the red and orange autumn leaves of sourwood.
Several leaf spot-causing fungi sometimes infect sourwood, but the damage is mainly cosmetic.
They dont require treatment unless you find the spots particularly distasteful.
Sourwood flowers have a pleasant, light fragrance.
The flowers are usually too high on older specimens for their scent to be noticed.
