Is it Hackberry? Sugarberry?
The two sides of my relationship with the multi-faceted hackberry tree
I used to see only the negative side of hackberry trees. The more I became attuned to the nature in my yard and recognized the value of insects, the more I began to see the positive side of these trees.
The Gifts of the Hackberry
Hackberry trees turn out to be among the best trees for wildlife. Oaks may be surpass them, but it's good to have a mix. Each species can fill ecological gaps left by another, and I now fully accept hackberry trees as part of the balance of my yard.
Foragers often prefer the alternate name: sugarberry. The fruits they produce live up to that name, being full of sugar and nutrition. They are a favorite of squirrels, birds, and many other creatures. Humans have valued these berries in the past, but they must be ground before being eaten; otherwise they’re tough on human teeth.
Beyond food, hackberry trees provide excellent shelter. Birds use them for nesting, and damaged trunks can provide cavity nesters a home. As shade trees, they are outstanding. One huge old tree growing in my backyard kept the temperature a full 10 degrees cooler than the ambient air temperature. A little oasis of coolish in those intensely hot Central Texas summers.
As mentioned in an earlier post, hackberry trees are larval host plants for butterflies, most notably the aptly named Hackberry butterfly. Tawny Emperor, American Snout, and Mourning Cloak butterflies also use their leaves, and I see many of those around the neighborhood.
The Demands of the Hackberry
Managing hackberry trees to keep them in balance does take both work and money. They grow so fast that they often end up with more weight than they can support. That cooling tree I mentioned? It eventually split and fell on the roof. Once the tree was gone, that part of the yard tended to be hotter than the ambient temperature, but the surrounding trees are doing their best to fill in. I was amazed that one tree could make so much difference.
The numerous seeds produced by these trees are very vigorous and sprout in all the wrong places. I spend a lot of time pulling the small ones and cutting back the larger ones that I missed. But I remind myself that they got here because the wildlife love them so much.
Their leaves are allelopathic like lantana, which means they contain chemicals that make it harder for other plants to grow near them. Not as aggressive as black walnut; in my experience, they seem to slow growth rather than prevent it. But I do try to keep hackberry leaves out of the garden and away from the young oak trees coming up.
On balance, hackberry trees are worth the trouble they cause. My yard would not be so rich in wildlife without them.
