How to Grow and Care for Japanese Pagoda Tree

The Japanese pagoda tree is a flowering tree that is the perfect addition to Japanese gardens and really most landscapes, tolerating even tough urban conditions. It grows in mild climates, preferring full sun and loamy soils.

Keep in mind that the fruits of Japanese pagoda tree are toxic to humans.

Japanese Pagoda Tree Care

Here are the main care requirements for growing a Japanese pagoda tree:

• Plant the tree in a location with full sun and well-drained soil, ideally rich, sandy loam.
• Water the tree during its first growing season in the absence of sufficient rain. After that, water it only during periods of extended drought or heat.
• Do not fertilize the tree until it has started to bloom. Use a fertilizer that is high in phosphorus.
• Start pruning the tree in the first spring after planting to steer its growth in the right direction.

Light

Japanese pagoda trees need full sun to thrive, and you will see a vast difference in bloom production in anything less. Providing partial sun will not harm the health of the tree, but it will affect its ornamental value, which is likely why you choose it in the first place.

Soil

Ideally, the soil for this tree would be a well-drained sandy loam rich in nutrients, but it will adapt to almost any soil, even if it’s poor or compacted, with the exception of wet, soggy soil. It grows amazingly well in tree pits, parking squares, and along streets with air pollution.

Water

During its first growing season, water your Japanese pagoda tree regularly and deeply in the absence of rain so it develops a strong root system. Once the Japanese pagoda tree is established, it is very drought-tolerant although it will perform better as an ornamental and produce more blooms with supplemental watering.

Temperature and Humidity

Japanese pagoda trees are frost hardy down to minus 25 degrees F when mature. Young trees in exposed locations are vulnerable to extreme winter cold; their trunks should be wrapped with burlap for protection.

The tree grows well in humid conditions.

Fertilizer

Fertilizing a young tree won’t precipitate its bloom so skip the fertilizer until it starts flowering. Once a year, in the early spring before the new growth starts, apply a fertilizer for flowering trees that is high in phosphorus.

Types of Japanese Pagoda Tree

• S. japonicum 'Millstone': This type of Japanese pagoda tree grows in a more upright, rounded-to-oval shape.
• S. japonicum ‘Pendula’: A weeping cultivar also known as weeping Japanese pagoda tree or weeping Chinese scholar tree. Unlike the species and ‘Regent’, it rarely produces flowers. The tree grows 15 to 25 feet tall with attractive yellow fall foliage.
• S. japonicum ‘Regent’: The only known flowering cultivar of the Japanese pagoda tree. It grows faster than the species, has a fuller crown, and glossier deep green foliage. It also flowers earlier than the species, after about six years, and has better disease resistance.
  

Pruning

Pruning will be the most labor-intensive maintenance you will have to do when caring for your Japanese pagoda tree. If you buy good nursery stock and prune well within the first three or four years of the tree’s life, your workload will be drastically reduced going forward.

The important thing to look for when selecting a Japanese pagoda tree is its trunk form. Be sure to select a tree with a single leader or solitary trunk that splits into branches at 45- to 60-degree angles from the trunk. Branches that form a narrower angle will eventually need pruning to avoid the formation of a weak crotch. 

After the first year, once your tree has been established, do your first pruning in the early spring while the tree is still dormant. Assuming that your tree only has a single leader and solid secondary limbs perpendicular to the leader at 45- to 60-degree angles from the trunk, cut off any interior branches that are at acute angles less than 45 degrees.

The following year, continue this effort and proceed onward doing this until the tree has formed a round crown. Once the tree becomes too large for you to handle, you may need to call in a licensed arborist when the tree needs pruning.

Propagating

It is possible to propagate a Japanese pagoda tree from seed, but in view of the fact that the tree takes so many years to bloom, this undertaking seems to stretch the patience of most home gardeners. If you want a specimen that blooms within a reasonable amount of time, it is best to purchase a young tree from a nursery. Note also that the popular earlier-blooming cultivar ‘Regent’ is protected by a plant patent, which prohibits propagation in any form.

Common Pests and Plant Diseases

Japanese pagoda tree is rarely affected by serious pest or disease problems. It might attract leafhoppers. Potential fungal diseases include rust, powdery mildew, blight, canker, and verticillium wilt.

How to Get Japanese Pagoda Tree to Bloom

If you plant a Japanese pagoda tree, you need to have patience to see it bloom. It takes a young tree up to ten years to bloom for the first time.

Bloom Months

The tree blooms in the mid- to late summer, between July and early September.

How Long Does Japanese Pagoda Tree Bloom?

The bloom period lasts about three weeks.

What Do Japanese Pagoda Tree Flowers Look and Smell Like?

The ivory-white flowers are arranged in 12-inch panicles. The flowers resemble those of sweet peas and give away that the Japanese pagoda tree is a member of the legume plant family. The flowers have a faint, sweet fragrance.

How to Encourage More Blooms

The tree grows in partial shade but won't bloom to its full potential. To increase the full sun exposure, prune nearby plants if possible.

Caring for Japanese Pagoda Tree After It Blooms

Conveniently, Japanese pagoda trees don't require any sort of different or special care after blooming. Continue to care for the tree as you have been.