Tight, compact plant with fragant white clusters of flowers. Often used as an informal hedge or accent. This evergreen can grow to 3 to 4 feet tall and wide. Little pruning is required, and fertilization in spring produces best results. Once a regular watering pattern has established plant, it can survive drought.
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Characteristics
Cultivar: Minor Gulf GreenFamily: Rosaceae
Size: Height: 3 ft. to 4 ft.
Width: 3 ft. to 4 ft.
Plant Category: landscape, shrubs,
Plant Characteristics: low maintenance,
Foliage Characteristics: evergreen,
Flower Characteristics: fragrant,
Flower Color: whites,
Tolerances: drought,
Requirements
Bloomtime Range: Late Spring to Early Summer
USDA Hardiness Zone: 7 to 11
AHS Heat Zone: Not defined for this plant
Light Range: Sun to Full Sun
pH Range: 5.5 to 6.5
Soil Range: Sandy Loam to Clay Loam
Water Range: Semi-Arid to Normal
Plant Care
Fertilizing
Light
Conditions : Full Sun Full Sun is defined as exposure to more than 6 hours of continuous, direct sun per day.
Watering
Conditions : Dry Dry is defined as an area that regularly receives water, but is fast draining. This results in a soil that is often dry to a depth of 18 inches.
Conditions : Normal Watering for Outdoor Plants
Normal watering means that soil should be kept evenly moist and watered regularly, as conditions require. Most plants like 1 inch of water a week during the growing season, but take care not to over water. The first two years after a plant is installed, regular watering is important for establishment. The first year is critical. It is better to water once a week and water deeply, than to water frequently for a few minutes.
Planting
How-to : Pruning Flowering Shrubs It is necessary to prune your deciduous flowering shrub for two reasons: 1. By removing old, damaged or dead wood, you increase air flow, yielding in less disease. 2. You rejuvenate new growth which increases flower production.
Pruning deciduous shrubs can be divided into 4 groups: Those that require minimal pruning (take out only dead, diseased, damaged, or crossed branches, can be done in early spring.); spring pruning (encourages vigorous, new growth which produces summer flowers - in other words, flowers appear on new wood); summer pruning after flower (after flowering, cut back shoots, and take out some of the old growth, down to the ground); suckering habit pruning (flowers appear on wood from previous year. Cut back flowered stems by 1/2, to strong growing new shoots and remove 1/2 of the flowered stems a couple of inches from the ground) Always remove dead, damaged or diseased wood first, no matter what type of pruning you are doing.
Examples: Minimal: Amelanchier, Aronia, Chimonanthus, Clethra, Cornus alternifolia, Daphne, Fothergilla, Hamamelis, Poncirus, Viburnum. Spring: Abelia, Buddleia, Datura, Fuchsia, Hibiscus, Hypericum, Perovskia, Spirea douglasii/japonica, Tamarix. Summer after flower: Buddleia alternifolia, Calycanthus, Chaenomeles, Corylus, Cotoneaster, Deutzia, Forsythia, Magnolia x soulangeana/stellata, Philadelphus, Rhododendron sp., Ribes, Spirea x arguta/prunifolia/thunbergii, Syringa, Weigela. Suckering: Kerria
How-to : Pruning Flowering Hedges
Careful selection, planting and initial pruning is critical for a uniform formal or informal hedge. The safest time to prune most flowering hedges is immediately after flowering. This way you do not prune away newly forming buds if you wait until later in the year. Initially, cut back leaders and laterals by one third to one half on planting. In second season, once flowering is complete, cut back again by about one-third.
A hedge can provide privacy and shelter from wind. Hedges should be sloped at a gentle angle, wider at the base, to deflect wind and avoid snow damage. Stretch a line between two stakes for a level top. Cut a template from heavy cardboard for a consistent shape and move it along the hedge as you cut. Shears or an electric trimmer should be held parallel to the line of the hedge.
How-to : Making a Hedge
Hedges can be trained to be informal with only occasional shaping or to have a more formal shape with judicious pruning.
Shear off the tops 2 to 6 inches several times during the first two seasons. Shearing of the tops and sides will promote branching. A common mistake people make is to cut the sides at a 90 degree angle. In this case the top growth shades the bottom resulting in a leggy open canopy. It is best to cut the sides at an angle so that they flare out at the bottom. This will ensure healthy and compact growth all the way down to the bottom of the shrub.
Problems
Miscellaneous
Glossary : HedgeA hedge is any tree, shrub, perennial, annual or herb that can be clipped and maintained in a formal or informal shape. Hedges can provide privacy and define property lines as well as rooms of a garden.
Glossary : Evergreen
Evergreen refers to plants that hold onto their leaves or needles for more than one growing season, shedding them over time. Some plants such as live oaks are evergreen, but commonly shed the majority of their older leaves around the end of January.