Graceful and formal at the same time. This low arching form of winter box is wonderful with uniform thin, deep green pointed foliage on arching stems. In mid-winter to early spring the undersides of the stems are clad in fine powerfully FRAGRANT white flowers at every leaf axil. The fragrance spreads for quite a distance on mild winter days. Following the flowers are berries that turn black and arrive at red. Handsome low shrub to 2′ tall and 3′ wide suckering to form patches with time. Moderately fast growing and easy to establish shrub in the BUXACEAE which means that this boxwood relative is also deer resistant. Excellent performance in part shade to shade but not low dense shade. Massed it performs as a large scale ground cover. Light consistent summer H20 for the best looks. Takes dry conditions in shade once established- especially if you apply mulch liberally. Unlike the species it does not lose leaves in bloom which is an important difference. Finds a home under dark stairwells and foundation plantings. Impressive relatively new selection. China.
Plant Type: Hedge or Screen
Screens and hedges are two different things but many of the same plants are applicable. A screen can be blocking one particular view or angle. At its best it is informal and grows quickly to its intended height. A hedge is inherently more formal. Often clipped or sheared it professes a uniformity that imbues structure and form into gardens. Hedges can delineate space in a natural way and they don’t have to be formal. Shrubs with a similar habit in a row can be just as pleasing.
It pays dividends to treat these plants well from the beginning. Dig a large hole and develop a moat around each plant for irrigation. And absolutely mulch them. Treating a hedge well and uniformly affords you the best form and color and saves you the headache of having to replace a fallen soldier. We list screens and hedge plants varying in size. That gives the gardener as many applications as possible. One tip: When buying a row of hedge plants plant 1 or 2 more than you need in other parts of the garden, that way if one of them dies you’ll have a replacement of just the same size and you’ll save considerably too.
Climate adapted plants for gardeners in the PNW
Ternstroemia gymnanthera
Obscure but exceedingly handsome and reliable shrub for hedges, specimens, eventually a small tree. Rounded leaves are good looking year round and especially when they first emerge brilliant salmon red before settling to dark green. This is the most showy display on this plant and it lasts for weeks. In mid-late summer small pendant white/cream flowers are nestled among the leaves, you really have to look to see them. Clean evergreen whose foliage is never marred by fungus or cold. Full sun to high overhead shade. To 8′-10′ tall and about half as wide. With great age and no pruning it can achieve small tree status and it forms attractive cloud like crowns of foliage. As a hedge it excels. Plant 2 gallon plants on 3′ centers and mulch. Irrigate about once a week until you see good new growth. Established plants are very tolerant of dry conditions. Theaceae- Camellia family. Excellent cold hardiness to 0ºF, tolerates some subfreezing wind. Excellent companion plant for Rhododendrons, Pieris, Illicium. Full sun to quite a bit of shade. Native to Japan. Good looking tough plant. Light deer resistance.
Teucrium fruticans
Silver Germander is a wiry shrub with gray foliage and even lighter gray/white stems. All summer it bears pale blue small flowers with a prominent central lip. Traditionally used in topiary or as a trimmed hedge, it takes amazingly well to heavy shearing. It responds by becoming incredibly dense. Its malleability leads people to also trim it into any whimsical shape they can dream of. Full sun, average, well drained soil. Little to light summer water when established. Requires full sun and a hot position with protection from subfreezing wind. Classic mediterranean shrub. Grows as well at the cool coast as it does in the hot inland areas. To 4′ x 4′ if left unpruned.
Vaccinium ovatum
Evergreen huckleberry is a fantastic native broadleaf shrub. It is well adapted to shady sites and will accept full sun with regular irrigation. Well established shrubs require less water. Rich, humusy woodland soil is its favorite haunt and it will grow moderately fast to a rounded outline of 8′ tall and 6′ wide. The new growth is a beautiful salmon pink before changing to deep green. In spring and early summer small white urn shaped flowers are pretty and transform into tasty black fruits in autumn. Amazing in muffins, pies.It has an interesting natural distribution along the immediate coast in most of Oregon but veering inland at Douglas County to almost the Cascade foothills. In Puget Sound it seems to be most prominent within sight of salt water. Easy to grow good garden plant. Increase your chance of pollination by planting more than two shrubs. The theory is that berries like to party- and I’ve observed it to be true. Oregon native plant.
Viburnum tinus ‘Variegatum’
Spring bouquet viburnum or Laurusitinus is a common shrub in our climate. This form lightens up what can be a very pedestrian plant. The edges of the evergreen leaves are margined in cream with an interior of soft green. This makes a shrub that glows year round and can be used to lighten up dark corners. In autumn clusters of pink buds form and hold until mid winter. Then as the days begin to lengthen it opens these clusters which are lightly fragrant and white. Strong growing shrub that requires very little water once established. To 8′ tall and 5′ wide in 6 years. Full sun to part shade to high overhead shade. Nice looking, tough shrub native to the Mediterranean very easy to grow and long lived. If a green sport appears simply prune it off to the base to retain the variegated form. Water to establish. Not deer resistant. Excellent backdrop to a mixed border or trimmed into a contained hedge. Nice fast growing screen. Blue berries sometimes follow the flowers. Buds and flowers put on a show for months. Blooms on wood from the previous season prune after flowering if needed. Naturally dense and rounded.
This wonderful grape vine was originally found along the Russian River by Roger Raiche and is absolutely stunning in autumn. This very large growing deciduous grape will eventually grow to 20′ and develop a sturdy, gnarled trunk. Grows about 3′-6′ per year. This is a wild hybrid between the European Wine grape and our native vitis californica. What that yields is one tough plant that handles our climate like a champion. Best used in wild areas and if you are going to plant it to grow up a tree make sure the vine you start with is small and the tree you put it in is big. In September-November a long display of brilliant claret red foliage- the individual leaves can be 10″ across. Simultaneously it will sport dark purple edible fruit in large clumps. The medium green foliage is leathery and is best in part shade to full sun. Especially brilliant draping evergreen oaks as it was found in the wild. Climbs by tendrils but provide very strong support at least #4 copper wire. Leaves arrive in mid spring. Very drought adapted when established. Water for the first season to establish then set it free. Vitis californica can be found in bot the Rogue and Umpqua river basins in Oregon.
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