Shellbark Hickory

Growing

Growing a shellbark hickory requires patience, as this slow-growing species takes decades to reach maturity and even longer to begin producing nuts. If you are starting from seed, you must overcome embryo dormancy by providing a period of cold stratification lasting between 90 and 120 days before sowing. Once established, these trees develop a deep, powerful taproot that helps them anchor in place, though they thrive best in areas that maintain constant moisture and can tolerate heavier, wetter soils.

While you may notice various insects feeding on the foliage, these rarely cause significant damage to a healthy tree. However, you should keep a watchful eye for the twig girdler, which can kill back the tops of young seedlings and sprouts, and the living-hickory borer, which targets the trunks and branches. Because this tree is shade-tolerant, it can grow well under a forest canopy, but open-grown specimens will develop a more distinct, egg-shaped crown.

Identifying your tree accurately is important, especially since its bark peels in long, straight plates that look very similar to Shagbark hickory. You can tell them apart by looking at the leaves; shellbark typically features 7 to 9 leaflets and lacks the tufts of hair at the tips of the leaf teeth found on other varieties. If you are looking for a nut crop, remember that significant seed production generally does not begin until the tree is at least 40 years old.