Katsura Tree
Cercidiphyllum japonicum
A handsome shade or specimen tree whose heart-shaped leaves open reddish-purple, turn blue-green, then clear yellow to apricot in fall, when the fallen leaves smell of burnt sugar. Give it moist, well-drained soil and mulch, and water it in dry spells, since drought and hot, windy sites scorch the leaves.
- Mature size
- 50 × 30 ft
- 15 × 9 m, tall × wide
- Hardiness
- Zones 4a–8b
- USDA
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water
- Medium to moist
- Blooms
- Mar
Katsura Tree at its mature size
A mature Katsura Tree grows 40 to 60 feet tall and 20 to 50 feet wide, taller than most people.
Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.
Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: NC State Extension, The Morton Arboretum.
Through the year
What Katsura Tree looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.
Dormant · Dec–Apr
Bare fine upswept branches, shaggy gray-brown bark.
In leaf · May–Sep
Dense blue-green heart-shaped leaves.
Fall · Oct–Nov
Apricot-yellow to orange leaves.
Photos
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Growing Katsura Tree
- Grows well in
- The Northeast, the Midwest, and the Pacific Northwest.
- Good for
- Specimen and fragrant
- Leaves
- Drops its leaves in winter
- Native to
- Japan and China
Spacing
VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Katsura Tree, that’s about 30 ft apart, center to center.
Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.
See Katsura Tree in your yard before you dig
Visualize it at its true size, alongside the rest of your design.