Larix: Larch Tree
With graceful form and unique seasonal beauty, larch trees bring year-round interest to the garden. Unlike most conifers, Larix are deciduous, showing off soft, green foliage in spring and summer, followed by a brilliant display of gold in autumn.
Plant care & info
Family: Pinaceae
Genus: Larix (LER-icks)
Common Name: Larch, Tamarack
Cold regions of Europe, Asia, and North America.
Deciduous conifers. Larix have needles, cones, and lose their needles in autumn. There are 12-15 species.
Soft green needles spiral around branches. They look like flowers when emerging in spring. In fall, needles turn gold, orange, and brown before dropping.
Female cones are very decorative, sitting erect atop branches.
Many different cultivated forms exist. Several are fast-growing, tall, and narrow. Others weep to the ground or have contorted branches. Several dwarf forms are also in cultivation.
Larch prefers sun and moist, well-drained soil.
Varies by species and cultivar.
Dwarf forms grow between 1-6″ per year. Larix gmelinii ‘Romberg Park’ is a dwarf larch that grows about 3 inches per year in a globe shape. In 10 years, it will be about 2′ x 3′. Given 20 years it could be 4′ x 6′.
Weeping forms tend to grow fast. If they grow untrained, they create a lovely ground cover, reaching about 12 inches tall & 12 feet wide in 10 years. If a weeping larch is trained to form a trunk, the leader can be trained in any direction, reaching 10-12′ in 10 years. The side-branches will weep to the ground.
Upright larch are typically very fast-growing. Our native Western larch, Larix occidentalis, grows in the same forests as ponderosa pine and grows just as tall, reaching over 200 feet in some areas. Upright Larch usually grow in an upright, pyramidal shape.
Larix naturally lose their needles in autumn. Folks who purchase Larch believing them to be evergreen (like most other conifers) are often surprised when the needles drop, mistakenly thinking the plant is dead.
Dwarf mistletoe is a parasitic plant that causes swelling at the point of infection and mutates growth, creating ‘witches brooms’ that appear as clusters of very tight, slow-growth in an otherwise large and open tree. Western larch can be seriously damaged by this disease, but it occurs mostly in Eastern Oregon.
