Howdy, friends and fellow growers! This season, the Buckeye leafed out in the safety of the fenced area on the northeast side of the house, which the Buckeye prefer. The tree on the left, in a gritty mix, is fuller and has more compact leaves that are visibly reduced in size. The tree on the right was more heavily browsed by the deer, is in a bark-based mix close to the 5-1-1, and wasn't root-pruned or re-potted last year. All in all, I'm happy.

You have two threads going on this issue. This being the newest, I'll post here. As noted, you don't say whether this plant started with you as a container grown specimen (came with all its roots) or whether it started with you as a B&B plant (truncated root system, needing recovery). That can inform opinions offered and recommendations therefrom. Your soil pH would be interesting to know, but not necessarily germane to growing this species. Texts say it prefers acid soils that are well-drained, but I've grown it on absolute limestone soils to various circumneutral sites with well-drained to heavy B-horizon clay loams - like here at the Valley, where I've grown over a hundred of these, with the oldest now for over twenty years. I really don't think that bit of yellowing is a matter for concern. It could be a nutrient deficiency that came with container culture; it could be a bit of heat stress that affected that set of leaves as they were forming. I would continue with some iron sulfate if your pH is circumneutral; it won't hurt a thing. Some 10-10-10 in spring as it leafs out and in summer will assist in establishment, as Aesculus parviflora is a gross feeder and robust grower. Given your site description, I'm interested in how you plan to manage this as it matures. As a small canopy tree? Here are some happy old Bottlebrush Buckeyes, doing their summer thing at the Valley...

theyare definitely bottle brush buckeyes the more mature one came from a local nursery. i have bee hives behind there greenhouses. the buckeye had been presumed dead & i found it in the back to be discarded the following year & it was sprouting away. this is the one with multiple stems coming fron the ground. the others came mail order & some are blooming now & have the bottle brush blooms. 2 of the mail order bushes are 4-5' with some branching. one is a single stem & is 14" ( not 14' ) the others fall somewhere in between. if cutting them close to the ground promotes multiple stems i'll try that. i assume that the trimming should wait til the fall?i'm having a problem with posting multiple photos. this is the 14"er

They are not drought resistant. They need adequate moisture during drought, or leaf scorch may become a problem. As a sapling it grows faster than most of the oaks but slower than yellow-poplar. So it would grow around 1.5 to 2 feet a year which is normally considered in the upper medium growth rate to lower fast growth rate for a tree. Most Ohio buckeyes have medium growth rate in normal sites but if you have rich average or good draining soil and keep the soil moist not wet it may grow at a fast rate. The first year or two it might could grow slow to medium but the next several years after it establishes good roots it could grow at a fast rate as long as it does not get dry in a drought. It is a medium-sized tree with an oval to rounded crown which grows to 20 to 40 feet tall and 20 to 35 feet wide.