Is Common Hackberry deer resistant?
Celtis occidentalis
Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
Not listed by Rutgers NJAES. Rated deer-resistant by El Paso County CSU Extension, whose list is a single category, mapped conservatively to Seldom Severely Damaged.
About Common Hackberry
Around fifty feet is what you should plan for, though it will go to a hundred on a good site, so this is a tree for a plot with room in it. The older bark is the giveaway — conspicuous corky projections all over it, quite unlike the smooth grey of a young trunk. The rating needs qualifying at the small end. A mature hackberry is out of reach and untroubled, but deer browse young ones hard: thirty per cent of available twigs were taken in one Illinois study, and at Manassas, where deer ran to roughly 42 per square kilometre, seedlings survived better inside protected plots than outside them. Plant a decent-sized tree, cage it for three or four years, and the problem goes away for good. The two things people worry about are both cosmetic. Mites and fungi deform twigs into witches'-brooms, and jumping plant lice raise rounded galls across the leaves; neither shortens the tree's life. It is a larval host for mourning cloak, question mark, American snout and tawny emperor butterflies.
Similar to Common Hackberry
Other trees with the same deer rating.
- Allegheny ServiceberryAmelanchier laevisZones 4–8Seldom damaged
- American PlumPrunus americanaZones 3–9Seldom damaged
- Austrian PinePinus nigraZones 4–7Seldom damaged
- Chinese Fringe TreeChionanthus retususZones 5–9Seldom damaged
- Chinese Paper BirchBetula albosinensisZones 5–7Seldom damaged
- ChokecherryPrunus virginianaZones 2–6Seldom damaged
Where Common Hackberry grows
Hardy across most of these 51 states on zone range alone. Mountain and coastal areas sit outside the ranges used here, so check your own zone before ordering.
- Pennsylvanianative
- New Jerseynative
- New Yorknative
- Connecticutnative
- Massachusettsnative
- Virginianative
- Marylandnative
- Michigannative
- Wisconsinnative
- Ohionative
- Indiananative
- Illinoisnative
- Minnesotanative
- Missourinative
- North Carolinanative
- Tennesseenative
- Georgianative
- Texasnative
- Coloradonative
- California
- Oregon
- Washington
- New Hampshirenative
- Vermontnative
- Maine
- Rhode Islandnative
- Delawarenative
- West Virginianative
- Kentuckynative
- South Carolinanative
- Floridanative
- Alabamanative
- Mississippinative
- Louisiana
- Arkansasnative
- Oklahomanative
- Kansasnative
- Nebraskanative
- Iowanative
- North Dakotanative
- South Dakotanative
- Montananative
- Wyomingnative
- Idaho
- Utahnative
- Nevada
- Arizona
- New Mexiconative
- Alaska
- District of Columbianative
- Hawaii
Highlighted states are within its native range according to the USDA PLANTS database, where it is native to 41 US states in total.
Browse from here
Every list Common Hackberry belongs to.
Hardy in these zones
Common questions about Common Hackberry
- Is Common Hackberry deer resistant?
- Common Hackberry (Celtis occidentalis) is rated Seldom Severely Damaged on the Rutgers NJAES four-tier scale. Light browsing at worst; rarely ruined.
- What hardiness zones does Common Hackberry grow in?
- Common Hackberry is hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9. Outside that range it will either not survive winter or will struggle with summer heat.
- Does Common Hackberry grow in shade?
- Yes. Common Hackberry tolerates part shade, which makes it one of the options for a shaded bed where deer also browse.
- How big does Common Hackberry get?
- Mature height is roughly 1200–1200 in. Growth rate is moderate.