{"id":6888,"date":"2016-11-10T12:00:40","date_gmt":"2016-11-10T17:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=6888"},"modified":"2016-11-01T20:46:27","modified_gmt":"2016-11-02T00:46:27","slug":"japanese-larch-is-preferred-in-northern-u-s","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2016\/11\/10\/japanese-larch-is-preferred-in-northern-u-s\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Larch Is Preferred In Northern U.S."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Larix<\/a>

Larix kaempferi ‘Wolterdingen’ at Chicago Botanical Gardens<\/p><\/div>\n

\"Larix<\/a>

Larix decidua at Biltmore Estates, Asheville, NC<\/p><\/div>\n

Larches (Larix spp.<\/em>) are majestic\u00a0deciduous conifers in their northern ranges of their habitat\u00a0(USDA hardiness zone 4 to 7). However, trees\u00a0do not prosper\u00a0in hot and humid summers south of USDA Zone 7.<\/p>\n

One of the best is\u00a0Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi<\/i>), but unfortunately, it is not commonly planted in U.S. landscapes.\u00a0The tree\u00a0averages 50-60 feet in height and\u00a025-35 feet in width. Old specimen trees that are 70-90 feet tall are not difficult to find\u00a0in botanical gardens in zones 5 and 6.<\/p>\n

The tree grows rapidly with an open and pyramidal form and slender, pendulous branchlets. Its fine\u00a0textured needles are soft to the touch. Bright green needles (to 1 \u00bd inches long) appear in brush-like clusters at the ends of spur-like shoots along the branches. In autumn needles turn\u00a0golden yellow and dust the ground around the tree as\u00a0fine mulch. Flowers appear\u00a0in March, and the seed bearing cones ripen in October. Also, the 1 \u00bd inch long green cones feature reflexed bracts that turn brown at maturity.<\/p>\n

Japanese larch prefers a fully open site. Soil should be mildly acidic and adequately drained. Larch is intolerant of poorly drained or dry soils, deep\u00a0shade, and most urban\u00a0pollutants.\u00a0Japanese larch is preferred over European larch (L. decidua<\/i>) because the latter is susceptible to numerous diseases and pests, particularly needle cast, needle rust, canker, and case borer.<\/p>\n

Its enormous tree size makes it more suited for large properties such as parks and golf courses. Larch\u00a0may be planted for reforestation, as a windbreak,\u00a0or as an individual specimen.<\/p>\n

Cultivars:<\/strong>\u00a0\u2018Pendula\u2019<\/strong> is a popular weeping form\u00a0in the U.S. ‘Diana’ <\/strong>has\u00a0contorted, twisted branches; it grows to 6-8 feet tall over the first 10 years, maturing to 20-25 feet high. \u2018Wolterdingen\u2019<\/strong> is a slow growing dwarf shrub and very\u00a0popular\u00a0among dwarf\u00a0conifer collectors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Larches (Larix spp.) are majestic\u00a0deciduous conifers in their northern ranges of their habitat\u00a0(USDA hardiness zone 4 to 7). However, trees\u00a0do not prosper\u00a0in hot and humid summers south of USDA Zone 7. One of the best is\u00a0Japanese larch (Larix kaempferi), but unfortunately, it is not commonly planted in U.S. landscapes.\u00a0The tree\u00a0averages 50-60 feet in height and\u00a025-35 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,728,1137,299,440,710,1333,650,617,604,816,623,1173,843,951,601,729,1220,204,777,630,646,7,113,455],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6888"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6888"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6888\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8969,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6888\/revisions\/8969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}