Both leaves and stems have a silvery downy appearance and fuzzy texture. When growing Salvia chamaedryoides, think about where the plant comes from: a high altitude desert in its native Mexico. If you grow the plants individually (rather than in a hedge) and want the best flowering display, skip that first shearing because you may be removing some flower buds. Short of space? This article contains incorrect information, This article is missing information that I need. Tolerant of pruning, germander is a favorite plant for knot gardens where it can be sculpted into serpentine shapes. That’s one pretty extreme environment, so how can this perennial salvia grow in our gardens? Shrubby germander 'Azureum', Tree germander 'Azureum' Genus. Need advice? Germander can also be pruned easily, much like a Bonsai tree for the more creative gardener. Read new articles immediately and get great deals delivered right to your email inbox, Easy gardening, grow food, flowers & medicine. Owing to this motive, the plant is commonly a typical selection for formal gardens, often known as knot gardens, as it may be pruned into curvy shapes. Huge Tree Germander One of the good properties of germander is that it’s tolerant of pruning. Aphids (Aphidoidea) attack the young new growth on plants, feeding on the phloem sap and in effect dehydrating the plant. I switched careers in 2010, leaving Public Affairs to study my long time passion, horticulture. In frost-free areas, prune the entire plant back by almost half after the last flowers in fall. Tree Germander ..of North America has slender spikes of purple to cream flowers on stems 90 cm (3 feet) tall. Late winter is the best time to remove unwanted lower branches on evergreen trees. The flowers, in colors ranging from deep pink to purple, are borne loosely atop wands of tiny, glossy, serrated leaves. Slugs and snails in cooler climates will feed on young shoots consuming them entirely. Seeds can be collected from dried flower heads left on the plant. Native to Mediterranean climates, Tree Germander is extremely durable, tolerating drought, wind and salt spray. To maintain flowers over a longer period, deadhead any spent bloom regularly and trim back leggy flowering stems. Perhaps flowering trees such as Camellias, Rhododendrons, Ribes and Magnolia present questions as to when to prune them. From seeds, sow outside directly into the soil after the last frost, or sow indoors in pots in early spring to be planted out later. ... Save Money & a Few Trees! Tree germander is particularly well-suited to creating low hedges, and does very well in shrub beds or topiary. Sage germander is grown as an ornamental plant and therefore does not benefit from regular harvesting like culinary herb garden sages. These plants are often drought and salt tolerant, small in size and work well as low ground cover so perfect for hot California or windy UK coastal gardening. A little more about me. Annual pruning is needed to ensure an attractive, tighter shape and prevent it from becoming too unkempt. When grown in pots, incorporate lots of horticultural grit or perlite to the compost to help with drainage. I’ve been gardening all my life in one form or another, but my obsession for growing really kicked in when I got my first allotment. In ancient Greece, hunters would field dress their meat with germander, often found growing wild in the hills. Botanical name. In all these cases, as with Plum , the flowers appear before the leaves. Share your garden joys & woes! Deer avoid browsing shrubby germander. Answer from NGA March 15, 2000. Shrubby germander is a mounding to spreading shrub grown for its attractive gray-green foliage with silver-white undersides and for its fan-shape lavender-blue flowers borne at stem tips in summer and fall. If you feel the plant is spreading too much, then fall is the perfect time for division. Repeat in spring when new shoots appear from the base and the risk of frost has passed. Name – Teucrium fruticans Home » Salvia Chamaedryoides: How To Grow Germander Sage. Water the cuttings and keep moist until roots have established and keep in dappled shade. Salvia chamaedryoides makes a great ground cover and although it spreads, its growth is not invasive. Powdery mildew in the garden affects plants, especially during hot, humid weather. If this is the case, prune frequently. It is an evergreen, ornamental woody shrub or ground cover, with small rounded silver grey/green aromatic foliage half an inch in length. (It may have anti-microbial properties.) They thrive in damp locations so keep areas around plants free of debris that may provide shelter during the day. Pruning. Divide the plant making sure each section has adequate roots. It grows in compact low mounds 12 to 18 inches tall and 3 to 4 feet wide, branching outwards from a spreading rootstock. Harvest and store in a cool, dry environment until spring. It thrives in heat and in poor or rocky soils. Its appeal lies in its foliage, flowers and therapeutic properties. Bush germander is a reliable foliage and flowering accent plant. Although all germander species have aromatic foliage, used medicinally and for potpourri, the most famously spicey species (Teucrium chamaedrys) grows into an attractive one foot high by two foot wide mound. Creeping germander is evergreen, but can easily be divided in early spring, just as it’s beginning to take off with new growth. Pinching the stems off can cause damage to the main plant. Remove and destroy the worst affected stems and entire plants if necessary, to prevent the spread to unaffected areas of the garden. This plant should receive long hours of full sun but will tolerate some light shade. Teucrium Teucrium. Use clean secateurs to cut stems 5-8 inches in length and remove the lower 2-3 inches of leaves. Invest in a good, sharp hand pruner or knife for harvesting. Distinctive foliage is gray-green above with silvery white hairs beneath. Or, spray with a good organic insecticidal soap or neem oil. When ready, separate the cuttings and plant one rooted cutting per pot to be planted into the garden when they have established a little more. Here’s a great gardening tip if your home is by the coast or you live somewhere hot and arid like California! Gently shake off some of the soil to see where and how many divisions can be made. If you are growing it as a specimen plant in your herb garden, you can either shear off the flowers when it has finished blooming or you can shear off the flowers and prune the plants back within a few inches of the height that you want the plant to grow. Prune the stems back as needed in late winter or early spring before new growth appears. A sturdy little plant, Germander is easy to grow almost everywhere in the US. Salvia chamaedryoides is typical of the genus. Divide plants in fall after flowering. Family – Lamiaceae Tree germander, Shrubby germander. Epic Gardening occasionally links to goods or services offered by vendors to help you find the best products to care for plants. Don’t be put off by its arid origins! Tiny lavender-blue flowers, 1 in. Regular shearing will make for a fuller, more robust plant, which will look much more attractive in the garden. When this happens it’s time to either go up in pot size or divide the plant into smaller sections. Germander sage is a low growing perennial to 2-3 ft. tall with a spreading root habit resulting in plants reaching 3-4 ft. wide and greater. Rosemary is both a beautiful shrub and a formidable herb plant. Keep compost moist until seedlings have established a good root system and place somewhere with plenty of sun. Nematodes can be applied when soil temperatures and conditions are right. In cold wet areas, plants will need winter protection of fleece or brought indoors if in pots. Peach tree pruning is used to remove any diseased or broken branches, water sprouts and suckers, as well as to open up the canopy of the tree to allow for better light and air penetration. Pruning Instructions. Foliage – evergreen Soil should be moderately fertile, free-draining chalky, sandy, or loam with pH ranging from 6.1 (mildly acid) to 7.8 (mildly alkaline). Salvia chamaedryoides has adapted to a full range of climate zones, making its home across Europe and North America, and especially California. A dwarf form, ‘Azureum,’ grows to 4-5 ft. but can be kept lower with pruning. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Being able to pick your own bouquet of flowers whenever you want is the best feeling ever. Herbs can be harvested throughout the growing season to be used fresh, dried, or frozen. majoricum bush germander Teucrium fruticans and cat thyme Teucrium marum LAMIACEAE formerly labiatae features description habit rate of growth how to grow shrubs growing shrubs planting shrubs how to plant shrubs how to care for shrubs care soil needs of shrubs soil … Once you get the conditions right, aftercare is pretty straightforward, just add a little water and a haircut when needed and enjoy. Most species mound to about 6 to 10 inches, but spread much further. Below is a list of ways you can propagate new plants from germander sage in the garden. Other common names tree germander Family Lamiaceae Genus Teucrium can be herbaceous perennials, deciduous or evergreen shrubs or sub-shrubs, with paired, aromatic leaves and tubular, 1 … Even the pest and disease list is short. Germander makes a more fragrant and showy alternative hedge shrub than Boxwoods, as it produces small pink flowers and its leaves have a garlic scent that will also make for a nice, aromatic wreath. I created Epic Gardening to help teach 10,000,000 people how to grow anything, no matter where they live in the world. Question by feldell March 15, 2000. Cutting grown. Plants may also self-seed in the right conditions. A mulch of compost can be applied in late fall to protect roots from frost. T. fruticans - T. fruticans is a bushy, borderline hardy, evergreen shrub with arching, woolly stems bearing ovate to lance-shaped, aromatic, grey-green leaves, white-woolly beneath, and racemes of whorled, pale blue flowers in summer.. Cut back the entire germander plant if it's overgrown or the stems appear leggy and weak after flowering. Use a fungicidal spray such as sulfur, neem oil, or potassium bicarbonate prior to or at first sight of disease. Do not water in fall/winter if plants are irrigated naturally through seasonal rainfall. Q: What beneficial species does germander sage attract? The vivid blue flowers provide radiance to an otherwise arid landscape, the flower color blue a well-known magnet to native pollinating insects, especially butterflies and hummingbirds. After it’s done flowering, green germander may get a little leggy, and if so, just shear it back about an inch or so, to encourage new growth. It is more finicky than bush germander but should provide a year’s worth of garden satisfaction, at least, before its demise. Required fields are marked *. Gray green leaves, silvery white below back the rare color of deep blue flowers in the garden, a darker blue than other Germanders. And, most of the time it looks great; but you do need to decide if you want to use it in a carefree way where the flowers are enjoyed or in a more formal way where it is pruned often to maintain a tight hedge. It can cope with most usual climatic environments, but in case of long-lasting frost spells, it will need to be protected. Small gray leaves contrast nicely with colorful deep powder-blue flowers in late spring and fall, and intermittently during warm months. In northern Europe, Salvia chamaedryoides is classified as deciduous and is hardy to USDA zone 8 or the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) equivalent, H4. Germander is a semishrubby perennial grown for its attractive, fragrant foliage and flowers, which might be blue, pink, purple, or white depending on species. In its natural habitat, Salvia chamaedryoides survives exposure to extreme temperatures and long summer droughts. If you simply wish to balance the shape or reduce the size of your plant, do it at the end of summer, after flowering is over. Stems can be dipped in rooting hormone if desired but this is not essential. This fungal disease spreads by spores, covering leaves with a white growth resembling a dusting of flour that inhibits optimum photosynthesis. Also called Teucrium chamaedrys, wall germander is a broadleaf evergreen which … Germander sage spreads vigorously by underground stems. Semi-ripe cuttings will benefit from some bottom heat to stimulate root development. Spruce and fir trees possess side or lateral buds on their newest (outermost) growth. It’s easy to grow and will attract a multitude of butterflies, bees and hummingbirds to your garden. Germander Teucrium X lucidrys formerly Teucrium chamaedrys Teucrium lucidum Fruity germander Teucrium cossonii var. Pruning is used to control the height and spread of a tree, allowing for easier harvesting. Search for garden plants with silvery grey/green foliage. In frost-free areas, prune the entire plant back by almost half after the last flowers in fall. It’s best not to prune more than 50% of the foliage at one time. Originating in Mexico, it was introduced to Europe in the 1800’s, finding its way back across the Atlantic to North America in the 1980’s. Tolerates poor, rocky soils, performs best in well-drained soils. Evidence of spider mites on plants can be seen as a fine webbing between stems and plants rapidly showing signs of decline. Your email address will not be published. In cooler regions where plants may be semi-evergreen or deciduous, lightly prune in early fall well before the first frost. Soil – ordinary, well drained Of course, if your plant is looking stressed by prolonged periods of drought, then supplementary water is recommended. Colorful pale lavender flowers are heaviest in winter to early spring and intermittently throughout the year. Just make sure you replicate its natural conditions with well-drained soil and located in full sun. Evergreen, bush germander is extremely durable even when subjected to wind and salt spray. ... Pruning Germander - Knowledgebase Question. Leaves turn yellow, dry up and die. Propagation Sow seed or divide plants in spring; take cuttings spring through fall. No comments yet – be the first to share your thoughts! Overview of Rosemary facts Name – Rosmarinus officinalis Family…, Thyme is both a cute little perennial and a fabulous herb. Avoid spraying with pesticides as spider mites have built up a resistance to many products on the market. Species. Top Thyme facts Name – Thymus Family – Lamiaceae Type –…, Agastache is a plant that boasts many assets. Also,what is the best fertilizer to use and when to feed? Sage germander is grown as an ornamental plant and therefore does not benefit from regular harvesting like culinary herb garden sages. Germander is a low-growing evergreen perennial, which makes it an ideal hedge plant. Carefully dig around the plant and lever the plant out of the ground without damaging the root ball. Dead, broken, and diseased branches can be removed at any time of year. 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