Mānuka
Leptospermum scoparium
Tip-prune it every year after the flowers fade — cut into the old wood and it will not come back.
Spacing & sowing
- Plant spacing
- 6 ft 7 in
- In-row spacing
- 6 ft 7 in
- Between rows
- 8 ft 2 in
- Square-foot density
- Not suited to SFG
Growing
- Type
- Shrub · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Sunlight
- Full sun, with light dappled shade tolerated.
- Watering
- Regular water while establishing; drought-tolerant once it settles.
- Feeding
- Very little — a light ericaceous feed in spring and nothing more.
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Flowering
- April
- Pruning
- Tip-prune after flowering, and keep off the old wood.
Through the year
- Mar–Apr Bud Break
- Apr–Nov Flowering
- Nov–Dec Dormancy
- Jan–Mar Dormancy
Companions
Heather (Calluna vulgaris), Lavender, Rosemary, Phormium, Grasses
Pests & problems
- Scale insects Immobile brown or white bumps fixed to stems and leaf undersides, sucking sap and weakening growth. Wipe off with a damp cloth or dab with horticultural soap; watch for the sooty mold that follows.
- Blight Web blight through humid spells
- Phytophthora root and foot rot Phytophthora root disease
- Root & crown rot Root rot in waterlogged soils
Garden allies
Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. companion plant
- Hoverfly SyrphidaeHunts Scale insects
Bee-mimicking flies whose legless larvae graze aphid colonies clean while the adults pollinate. A ribbon of shallow, nectar-rich flowers kept in bloom all season recruits wave after wave of them.
- Ladybird (lady beetle) CoccinellidaeHunts Scale insects
The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com