I always think of Staghorn as a tree but it is in fact more often than not a shrub albeit a fairly large growing one. They are very easy to spot this time of year with their colourful feathered fronds of leaves turning from light green to orange to deep red. The female plant has a large cone shaped deep red fruit at the top of the foliage. Its branches are covered in a soft velvety hair which is where it gets its name 'Staghorn' from.
It comes originally from North America and was brought here in and around the 17th century.
Its popularity here only really took off in the 80's and 90's but since then it has happily spread and can be spotted commonly in gardens here. It self propagates through root suckers and seeds and has done so well that it is now considered to have invasive behaviours and is one step away from meeting the invasive species list!
It is however one of my favourite plants and when grown in the right conditions can make a very well behaved beautiful addition to any garden.
So if you are looking for an eye catching deciduous tree or shrub look no further than the Staghorn just follow these tips below if you don't want it spreading;
Now the Staghorn is quite a weather tolerant plant and will put up with most conditions be it shaded or windy but if you want to make the most of it and give it an ideal conditions place it somewhere sunny, semi sheltered and with well draining soil. It makes a great corner focal point in the garden or as a centrepiece. The one thing you do need to do is give it a good bit of space as it will spread to up to 8 metres and up to a height of 12 metres if given the chance.
To keep it from spreading and to lessen the workload on yourself its best to treat it as you would a bamboo and plant it in a large container if where you are putting it is short on space or against a neighbours boundary. Bear in mind that if you do put it in a container it will limit its size so if you want it to grow to its full potential let it grow free.
Even with container growing every year it will manage to send out suckers and so you will need to pull these as they appear. Its roots are actually quite shallow (a maximum of 10" in a main root) but they can be quite densely tangled so it's best to keep on top of them if you don't want a bigger job!
You can buy Staghorn in pots from local centres or if you happen to know anyone who has one already they are very easy to grow from a cutting or simply from a pulled sucker, just be sure that whatever you are getting is disease free and healthy, they are prone to fungal leaf spots and powdery mildew which you don't want to introduce to your own garden. They can be pestered by the likes of spider mites and aphids but generally they are not too bothered by them.
So next time you are out and about see if you can spot one of these beauties on your travels and consider adding it to your own garden if you haven't already!
