Griselinia
Griselinia littoralis
Screens well in mild gardens; cold inland winters brown the leaves, so it suits sheltered and coastal plots.
- Type
- Shrub · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Foliage color
- Green · Gold and chartreuse
- Sunlight
- Full sun to partial shade.
- Watering
- Moderate watering, and never let it stand wet.
- Feeding
- A balanced feed in April and a compost mulch in spring.
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- May
- Pruning
- Clip it twice a year, in late May and again in August.
- Overwintering
- For mild gardens only — shelter it from hard frost.
- Mar–Apr Bud Break
- Apr–May Spring Growth
- May–Oct Flowering
- Oct–Dec Growing
- Jan–Mar Growing
- Plant spacing
- 8 ft 2 in
- In-row spacing
- 8 ft 2 in
- Between rows
- 10 ft 3 in
- Square-foot density
- Not suited to SFG
- Root system
- Woody and fibrous
- Working depth
- 12–24 in
- Can reach
- 3 ft down where the soil allows
- Spread
- 12–16 ft across, about 1.5–2× the width of the plant
- Shallowest pot
- 20 in of soil
A shallow woody framework with the fine feeding roots in the leaf litter above it. Those feeders are mostly under the outer half of the canopy rather than against the stem, which is where water and feed should go.
The habit is Griselinia’s own; the figures are what that habit usually comes to at this size, not a measurement of this species. Roots follow the soil either way: a compacted pan, a high water table or heavy clay stops them well short of any of it, and deep open ground lets them go further.
Shrubs, like this one.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com