The full bloomed Laburnum trees give the Mumbai roads a shade of beautiful yellow flowers, hanging in bunches. The British officers wanted to plant beautiful trees on the roadsides, they called best of the botanists and took their advice, of many trees which were planted, and Laburnum suited the Indian climate.
Laburnum looks splendid and gives a classy getup to the streets. It withstands the sunny summer easily. You see them crowded by many other trees; often they are found isolated too. The isolated trees flower easily because of the ample sunlight they receive. Laburnums crowded by other trees do not flowered so well. This tree is also known as golden chain tree, because of the way its flowers. Its flowers are held on voluminous flower stems and usually they are drooping. Laburnum is an old favorite and has been grown in gardens for hundreds of years. As a young tree it is a fast grower, but it takes longer time to flower. Typically, the young tree first makes its branches and gains some height and then commences flowering readily.
Its bright yellow flowers appear at the end of April and stays in bloom for May and early June. They are typical pea-family flowers, is a slow-growing form, reaching not more than 3m in 20 years.
It is advisable to prune Laburnum trees in late summer but they can be pruned up until Christmas. They should not be pruned in the spring or early summer as they may bleed. If you are growing your Laburnum as a specimen tree, remove any damaged stems and prune only to maintain the shape of the canopy. I love the bloom of Laburnum because of its golden hue. It looks magnificent and it gives a positive feel. The tree’s magnificent sight in the entrance of house and even backyard enhances the ambience. The drooping, 10-inch flower clusters look incredible when they appear on the deciduous tree in springtime.
The yellow color of laburnum flowers is an amusing match for the fresh new green of early summer. A pastel shade of green and yellow Laburnum with lighter yellow limbs droops gracefully in its posture. It’s a botanic fact that Laburnum trees and shrubs are a boon to our environment because they have the ability to fix nitrogen nutrient from the atmosphere in partnership with soil bacteria, and this gives the plants a major advantage of growing in poor, dry soil. Dry soil is open to air, which the bacteria need.
By contrast, laburnum suffers when planted in heavy or wet soil. Failure of laburnum trees is common due to winter water-logging of the roots in heavy soil. Snails love to eat laburnum leaves, and this often causes problems for young trees. The snails sometimes climbing the tree stem to feed on the leaves. Although snails are not affected, laburnum is poisonous in all its parts, including seeds. The most common cases of poisoning are young children getting ill after chewing the small pods or seeds, which resemble small pea pods. The fallen seed pods should be removed if there are small children playing in those areas.
Although there is a need for caution, there are many thousands of laburnum trees in gardens and parks, and even roadside fence of gardens where they sometimes self-sow, and they generally cause no problems, just much pleasure for those who see them. It can withstand strong winds but not sea exposure. It tolerates atmospheric pollution. The plant is notably susceptible to honey fungus.
Laburnum has a symbiotic relationship with certain soil bacteria; these bacteria form nodules on the roots and fix atmospheric nitrogen. Some of this nitrogen is utilized by the growing plant but some can also be used by other plants growing nearby.
The Laburnum tree can easily be fashioned into an arch, creating an elegant entry point or walkway, when several trees are grown together in a row. Grow as much Laburnum as possible for a healthy environment and a golden sunshine.
