How to Care for Silk Tree Mimosa

Choose a silk tree as a landscaping tool if you live within U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 6 through 9. USDA zone 5, where winter temperatures can be as low as minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit, is too cold for the mimosa to survive.

Grow a silk tree where its falling foliage, flowers and beanlike seedpods cannot become a litter problem. The tree requires considerable clean up when these items fall. The wood of a silk tree is weak and light, making it prone to damage during snowfalls, ice storms and heavy winds. Consider this when choosing a spot for the tree so the limbs cannot cause problems for structures such as homes and sheds. The roots, which are shallow, can cause walkways and driveways to crack as they penetrate them.

Put your silk tree in a full sun location for best results. Although the mimosa tolerates growing in light shade, the tree generates more flowers when you plant it in a full sunshine site.

Situate your silk tree in well-draining soil. Mimosa grows in many different types of soils, but does its best if you put it in a light, fertile soil. The silk tree tolerates both acidic and alkaline conditions, but this nonnative species has very little ability to grow when exposed to salt, reports the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.

Keep your mimosa tree watered, especially in the hot summer months. Even though the silk tree withstands drought, its foliage suffers when there is a lack of moisture in the ground. Keeping the soil around the roots damp promotes a richer green color in the leaves.