And in general, the soil should have excellent drainage.
Water
Once established, mountain mahoganies are extremely drought tolerant, with mature specimens requiring 15 to 26 inches of rain a year.
In some regions where they grow wild, they only receive 10 inches per year!
You’ll need to provide supplemental water for the two to three years that it takes for the plants to become established before they can survive on such minimal amounts of precipitation.
During hot summer weather and immediately after transplanting, water daily in the first year. In the second year, water weekly during hot weather, and weekly to monthly the third year.
When they are established, plants may need to be irrigated once or twice a month during the summer months, depending on local weather conditions.
Fertilizing
During the establishment period, fertilizer will help, though it isn’t strictly necessary unless you have very depleted soil.
It’s a good idea to conduct a soil test to determine what nutrients are missing from the earth in your garden. Then you can amend accordingly.
If you want to provide some fertilizer but don’t want to test your soil, I suggest a product like Yum Yum Mix which is mild, with an NPK ratio of 2-1-1.
It’s well suited for plants growing in the dry conditions and poor soils of the western US.
Yum Yum Mix Fertilizer
You can pick up a five-pound bag of Yum Yum Mix fertilizer from Soil Mender via Amazon.
For the first few years, you can add a handful of fertilizer to the soil at the base of the plant and water in well.
Species to Select
There are nine or 10 different species of Cercocarpus depending on who you speak to – here’s a selection to get you started:
Alderleaf
Alderleaf mountain mahogany (C. montanus syn. C. betuloides) is also known as true or silverleaf mountain mahogany as well as hardtack.
This species is a deciduous to semi-evergreen shrub with veined leaves that look like those of birches or alders.
It reaches three to 10 feet tall and wide, and can be grown in Zones 3 to 6.
Want to grow your own?
You can purchase packs of 10 alderleaf mountain mahogany seeds from the CZ Grain Store via Amazon.
Curl Leaf
Curl leaf mountain mahogany (C. ledifolius) are upright evergreen trees or shrubs that grow to three to 35 feet tall and wide, though more typically they reach 15 feet tall and wide.
C. ledifolius has leathery, lance shaped leaves, and can be grown in Zones 3 to 8.
Little Leaf
Also known as C. intricatus or C. ledifolius var. intricatus, little leaf mountain mahogany is an evergreen shrub that reaches four to five feet tall and three to four feet wide.
Little leaf mountain mahogany bears small, narrow leaves and is hardy in Zones 3 to 9.
Maintenance
Pruning in early fall or spring can encourage growth – but take care not to cut too much back as these are very slow growing species.
Plan to prune mountain mahogany in late winter or early spring, except for species that bloom in spring – for those it’s best to wait until after blooming.
