A dense evergreen shrub with glossy green leaves and coppery new growth. It takes shearing well, so it is a dependable choice for formal hedges and screens. Left unclipped, it grows into a large, graceful shrub or small tree.
Living with it in the Phoenix Valley
Watering
Follow the shrub schedule in our Landscape Care guide. It needs regular water year-round in Phoenix but does not like soggy soil. Deep, infrequent watering helps flush salts, which cause brown leaf tips.
Pruning
It handles shearing for a formal hedge or can be thinned for a natural shape. Shear in the warm season and avoid cutting hard right before a freeze.
Feeding
Yellow leaves with green veins point to iron chlorosis, common in alkaline soil. An iron supplement corrects it.
Pests
Watch for spider mites, scale and whiteflies. It is somewhat susceptible to Texas root rot.
How our designers use it
Formal hedges
Its fine, dense growth shears into clean lines along property walls and courtyards.
Screening
Left taller, it screens neighbors and equipment with year-round green.
Small multi-trunk tree
Trained up, it becomes a compact patio tree for tight spaces.
Good to know
Around the pool
Light litter and generally well suited to patios and pool areas. Keep sheared hedges a little back from the edge so clippings stay out of the water.
