--- title: Catalpa in Reno and Carson City: Tree Guide url: https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/catalpa/ business: Battle Born Tree Service address: 6301 US Highway 50 East, Carson City, NV 89701 phone: 775.232.8243 hours: Office Monday-Friday 8:30 am-5:00 pm; phones answered seven days a week; 24-hour emergency service credentials: ISA Certified Arborist WE-11728A on staff; Nevada Business License # 20131580674; fully insured type: Tree service (removal, crane work, pruning, stump grinding, defensible space, snow removal, firewood) --- - [Home](https://battleborntreeservice.com/) - [Tree guide](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/) - Catalpa # Catalpa Catalpa is the large-leaved shade tree with showy white spring flowers and long, bean-like pods that hang on into winter. It tolerates alkaline soil and drought, but its wood is weak and brittle and branch breakage is common, so older trees near houses should be checked. - **Botanical name:** Catalpa speciosa (northern or western catalpa) - **Type:** Fast-growing deciduous shade tree - **Size:** Large, with a fairly narrow, oval crown (Utah State University) - **Hardiness:** Zones 4 to 9; zones 6b to 7b here - **Where it is found:** Older yards on the valley floors, about 4,000 to 5,100 feet - **Known weak points:** Weak, brittle wood, verticillium wilt, messy pods A catalpa is easy to spot in June and again in winter, when the long pods rattle in the bare crown. Utah State University says rarely should it be planted, though it does well throughout most of Utah. This page covers identification, where it grows in our elevation bands and when pruning or removal is right. ## How do you identify a catalpa? The leaves are among the largest of any yard tree here: heart-shaped, often longer than your hand, arranged in pairs or threes on the twig. In late spring the crown carries upright clusters of white flowers with purple and yellow spots inside. The fruit is a long, slender pod that looks like a bean and can hang on through the winter. The shape is distinctive even without leaves. Utah State University describes a fairly narrow-crowned tree with an oval outline and coarse, crooked branches. Bark is gray-brown and scaly. - Large heart-shaped leaves in pairs or threes - White spring flowers with purple spots - Long pods that persist through winter - Coarse, crooked branches ## Where does it grow in Reno, Carson City and the Carson Valley? Catalpa is a tree of older valley-floor yards. USU rates it for zones 4 to 9 and high for drought and alkalinity, and says it is tough and tolerant of wet or dry soils. Reno (4,505 feet, zone 7b), Carson City (4,680 feet, zone 7a) and Minden (4,725 feet, zone 6b) are inside that range. On the Nevada side of Tahoe, from Glenbrook (6,243 feet) to Incline Village (6,437 feet), hardiness is not the question; the shorter growing season, heavy snow and conifer-dominated lots are. We do not claim its elevation limit because the sources we read do not give one. ## What goes wrong with it here? Utah State University is blunt about the wood: somewhat weak and brittle, with branch breakage common. Large limbs on a mature catalpa can fail in a windstorm or under wet snow, and the pods and flower litter are a nuisance. See [storm and snow-load breakage](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/storm-and-snow-load-breakage/) and [what to do after heavy snow breaks limbs](https://battleborntreeservice.com/guides/heavy-snow-broken-limbs/). USU also lists verticillium wilt as a problem. It shows as sudden browning of leaves on one branch or one side of the crown. Drought can look similar, and so can root trouble, so the arborist checks before any conclusion; see [drought stress and dieback](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/drought-stress-and-dieback/). Catalpa is rated not good under power lines. From the ground you can watch for a few things without touching the tree: limbs hanging lower than they did last year, a crack or seam where two big stems meet, fresh wood on the ground after a wind, and a patch of leaves that wilts and browns while the rest of the crown stays green. None of those proves a tree is failing, and none proves it is safe. They are the notes to give the arborist at the visit. ## Pruning, cabling or removal: which is the right call? Dead limbs and hanging stubs can be taken out any time of year. Structural pruning that shortens the longest limbs and removes crossing ones is best in late winter. The goal is a crown that sheds weight evenly rather than one that is thinned all over. [Cabling and bracing](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-services/cabling-bracing/) can keep a sound tree with a weak fork in service. Removal is the usual answer when the trunk is decayed, a limb has split at the union, or the crown has died back from wilt over a roof or driveway. Mature catalpas often need [large tree removal](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-services/large-tree-removal/), and tight yards may call for a crane. ## What does Battle Born Tree Service do about a catalpa? Start with a free estimate. A certified arborist assesses the tree before any work begins, and the estimate says whether the answer is pruning, cabling or removal. Two of our crew are ISA Certified Arborists, and credential WE-11728A belongs to one of them. We do not apply treatments for wilt or plant new trees. ### Sources - [Utah State University Extension: Tree Browser, Catalpa, Northern or Western](https://extension.usu.edu/treebrowser/catalog/catalpa-northern-western) (read October 17, 2026) - [USDA Agricultural Research Service: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map 2023 (PRISM, Oregon State University)](https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/) (read October 17, 2026) - [NOAA NCEI: U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/land-based-station/us-climate-normals) (read October 17, 2026) ### Talk to the office [775.232.8243](tel:775.232.8243) | Monday to Friday | 8:30 am - 5:00 pm | |---|---| | Saturday and Sunday | Office closed, phones answered | Phones answered seven days a week. 24-hour emergency service. [Free estimate](#quote) ### Keep reading - [Black locust](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/black-locust/) - [Silver maple](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/silver-maple/) - [Heavy wet snow and broken limbs: what to do the morning after](https://battleborntreeservice.com/guides/heavy-snow-broken-limbs/) - [Large tree removal](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-services/large-tree-removal/) - [Tree trimming and pruning](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-services/tree-trimming-pruning/) - [Warning signs before a tree fails](https://battleborntreeservice.com/guides/warning-signs-tree-failure/) - [Fruitless mulberry](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/fruitless-mulberry/) - [Black and English walnut](https://battleborntreeservice.com/tree-guide/walnut/) ### Terms on this page [Alkaline soil](https://battleborntreeservice.com/glossary/alkaline-soil/) [Arborist](https://battleborntreeservice.com/glossary/arborist/) [The full glossary](https://battleborntreeservice.com/glossary/) ## Questions people ask Still have a question? Call [775.232.8243](tel:775.232.8243). Phones are answered seven days a week. ### Why does my catalpa have long pods hanging on all winter? Those are the seed pods. They are the fruit that Utah State University describes as messy, and they can persist on the tree into winter. ### Why are the leaves on one side of my catalpa turning brown? Verticillium wilt, drought and root trouble can all cause this. An arborist can examine the tree and tell you which it is. ### Is a catalpa a good tree to plant? We do not plant trees, so we will not recommend one. Utah State University's tree guide says rarely should it be planted, though limited use may be justified.