Sweetgum ‘Slender Silhouette’
* Common name: Sweetgum ‘Slender Silhouette’
‘Slender Silhouette’s’ slender habit at left and fall foliage at right.
* Botanical name: Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Slender Silhouette’
* What it is: A version of a native tree that grows in an unusually columnar, upright form. ‘Slender Silhouette’ also produces very few of those spiky, golfball-sized pods that’s the species’ main downfall in home gardens. The star-shaped leaves turn a golden to burnt-red color in fall before dropping. One of the nicest fall-foliage trees.
* Size: Can grow 40 to 50 feet tall but only 5 to 6 feet across in 25 years. It’s a medium-fast grower.
* Where to use: The very narrow habit makes it an ideal tree in spots that need height but are narrow, including property lines, small front yards or urban landscapes. Also makes a nice look as “sentinel trees” flanking doorways or entrances into different parts of a yard. Best in full sun. Tolerates damp or dry soil.
* Care: Keep soil consistently damp in first year or two until the roots are established, then little or no water needed. No fertilizer needed either. No need to prune unless a few straggler branches are poking out or if you want to remove any of the lowest limbs as the tree grows. End of winter before the tree leafs out is the best time to prune.
* Great partner: Underplant with golden spreading junipers, boxwoods or birds nest spruce for an evergreen groundcover. Late-blooming golden mums add contrasting color around the base at the same time the sweetgum leaves are turning burnt-red.