Sumac Tree

Our sumac trees are native Rhus sumacs, tough shrubs and small trees known for upright red fruit clusters and fall color that burns red and orange. We ship them bare-root in 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4 foot sizes, in packs of 25, 50, 100 and 500, for slopes, roadsides, wildlife plantings and wholesale buyers who need color on difficult ground.

Sumac Tree Size, Zones and Sun

Call it a sumac tree or a sumac bush, you can expect roughly 10 to 20 feet at maturity, with a spread to match. It's hardy in zones 3 to 9. Plant in full sun (six hours or more) for the best color, though part shade works. Sumac does well in lean, rocky or dry soil and is drought tolerant once established. Skip soggy ground.

Sumac Flowers, Fruit and Fall Color

The flowers are small and greenish white, and they open in upright clusters in late spring or early summer. They're easy to miss. What people notice is the fruit: hairy little red berries packed into cones that turn a deeper red as winter goes on. Sumac comes in male and female plants, and only the females make fruit. Fall color is the other draw, with leaves going gold, then orange, then red or burgundy.

Sumac and Wildlife

Pheasant, bobwhite quail and wild turkey eat the fruit, native bees visit the flowers for nectar, and luna moth and spring azure caterpillars feed on the leaves. Our growing notes on smooth sumac cover its berries and traditional uses.

Where to Plant Sumac

Sumac earns its keep on hot banks, rocky slopes, roadsides, old fields and the edges of woods, anywhere grass struggles. The root suckers that make it spread also help knit loose soil together. For a mixed fall-color border, our list of cool-weather plants that add autumn color shows what to pair with it. Native grasses and prairie perennials that like the same dry sun make good neighbors.

Good to Know About Sumac

Sumac spreads by root suckers and forms a colony over time. That's a plus on a slope and something to plan for near a formal bed, so give it room or mow a boundary around the patch. Pulling or cutting suckers each spring keeps the clump where you want it.

Planting Sumac Bare-root

Give the roots an hour or two in water, then plant at the same depth the sumac was growing before. There's no need to enrich the hole, and we'd leave the fertilizer in the shed. Water it through the first season. After that sumac mostly looks after itself, which is why people use it on banks and roadsides where nobody's hauling a hose.

Sumac for Slopes, Buffers and Wildlife Plantings

A pack of 100 set 4 feet apart covers about 1,600 square feet, and the suckers fill the gaps within a few seasons. Highway banks, utility corridors and field borders are the usual jobs, and wildlife buyers plant it for the fruit that quail and turkey eat. The red fruit clusters also hold on through winter, so the plants keep color after the leaves are down.

Sumac Tree Sizes, Packs and Shipping

Sumac trees ship bare-root in November, in 1-2, 2-3 and 3-4 foot sizes and packs of 25, 50, 100 and 500. Volume pricing available. Browse more wholesale shrubs.