Family Anacardiaceae
Originating from North America
Received the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit
- Intricate fern-like deciduous leaves are borne on an elegant shrub.
- Small yellow-green flowers yield showy scarlet-burgundy fruits.
- A less invasive, easily controlled suckering sumac, undemanding in any soil.
Cutleaf Smooth Sumac in Your Garden
Feathery sumac leaves ignite UK gardens with autumn fire. Rhus glabra ‘Laciniata’ creates a striking and complex lacy crown of deeply lobed leaves. Their feather-like form has a pink central stem with green leaflets. They have one of the most spectacular autumnal colour blazes of any species we can grow in UK gardens.
Many sumac varieties spread invasively, but glabra only produces occasional suckers. It reaches 3m high and 5m wide in 10–20 years, forming an elegant specimen with gracefully upswept branches. Yellow-green flower panicles in summer, loved by pollinators, yield scarlet fruits, persisting into winter for wildlife.
Adaptable to poor soils, it grows in well-drained sites in full sun, ideal for wildlife gardens and water-wise gardeners in Suffolk’s drier, sun-baked climate. Its airy structure suits rustic or modern styles. It makes a striking specimen for borders around Norfolk’s traditional English terraces, or a serenely commanding oriental accent.
Care Tips for Rhus glabra ‘Lacinata’, the Cutleaf Smooth Sumac
- Soil and Sun: Plant in any non-alkaline soil; full sun enhances colour.
- Planting: Set at any time of year with extra attention to watering for summer planting; drench root ball by plunging before planting.
- Watering: Minimal once established; tolerates drought with ease.
- Pruning: In spring prune lightly to shape or hard prune to form a smaller, dense plant. Occasional unwanted suckers are easily removed with a sharp spade.
Few plants have such a bold yet refined foliage display, combined with spectacular autumn colouration. Rhus glabra ‘Laciniata’ has a smaller stature and suckers less invasively than the more common R. typhina varieties. Ease of manageability, outstanding looks, drought tolerance, and pollinator/bird-friendly qualities make these feathery sumac leaves essential for all UK gardens.
Planting Ideas for Cutleaf Smooth Sumac
Forge a fascinating, intricate planting of feathery foliage. Celebrate the detailed and textured foliage of Rhus glabra ‘Laciniata’ by planting it with other pinnate-leaved varieties. Cedrela toona, Sambucus ‘Golden Tower’ and ‘Eva’, Albizia ‘Ombrella’ and Robinia ‘Lace Lady’ all have finely cut or complex leaves.
These deciduous varieties can be supplemented with evergreen Acacia baileyana ‘Purpurea’, Acacia dealbata, and Azara microphylla ‘Variegata’. Additionally, herbaceous plants such as Achillea ‘Paprika’, Thalictrums ‘Splendide’ and rochebruneanum, and Artemisia ‘Powis Castle’ add colour. All too often colour is the gardeners’ priority, creating possibly the biggest impact. However, the elaborate textural qualities of such an assemblage of foliage contributes a strong underlying identity to planting schemes.
