Japanese aucuba stunning in the winter landscape

December 23, 2011
COOL COLOR: Japanese aucuba berries can brighten the winter garden. You'll need male and female specimens. Photo: MCT / MCT
McCLATCHY TRIBUNE COOL COLOR: Japanese aucuba berries can brighten the winter garden. You'll need male and female specimens.

For winter landscape interest, it is hard to beat the Japanese aucuba. A few years ago, this struck home to me as we were filming a TV segment at one of my favorite small gardens, the Biedenharn Museum and Gardens in Monroe, La. I was stunned: Who knew aucuba could produce such a stunning winter look?

I'm not referring to the variegated foliage, which is almost as colorful as a tropical-leafed croton. It's the cherry-red fruit - giant-size compared to a holly - that surprises.

Even if you've grown the aucuba, you might not have ever seen it - because it takes two. Aucubas, like many other shrubs, must be present in male and female varieties to get the prized winter fruit.

Though the aucuba comes from the Himalayas and Japan, it is one of the finest shrubs for the landscape in zones 6-10. The variegated forms brighten up the shade garden better than almost any other shrub. All aucubas are made for the shaded to part-shade woodland landscape. They are in the dogwood family.




Though we typically think of the gold-spotted or variegated varieties, there are several green-leafed selections as well. The variegated female selections will produce the large red fruit, but the green-leafed selections have the best Christmas appeal - so loaded they almost look artificial.

Place your aucuba plant in partial shade to shade; they abhor full sun. Prepare the soil by incorporating 3 to 4 inches of organic matter and 2 pounds of a 5-10-5 fertilizer per 100 square feet of planting area, tilling deeply.

Dig the planting hole three to five times as wide as the root ball but no deeper. When you dig these large holes, you are opening the door to the fastest root expansion and establishment in your bed. Place the plant in the hole and backfill with soil to two-thirds the depth. Tamp the soil and water to settle, add the remaining backfill, repeat the process and apply mulch.

Moisture is critical the first year on newly planted shrubs, so water deeply when it's dry. Feed the aucuba four weeks after transplanting with a slow-release fertilizer like an 8-8-8 or 12-6-6 at 1 pound per 100 square feet of bed space. Fertilize established plantings in March.

Prune lightly any time to shape and keep bushy. To generate new canes, remove older ones near the base during the late winter. Occasionally, mealy bugs can be a problem; treat them as needed but don't let this deter you from planting aucuba.

Try planting aucubas boldly in groups around fatsia for a tropical look. I have seen green types with the fruit grown very effectively near camellias like 'Professor Charles S. Sergeant', which has dark-red, anemone-type blossoms. Bedding plants work quite well as companions. Grow lilac-colored impatiens in front of the more brightly variegated forms.

For winter landscape-enhancing red fruit, variety selection is critical. Unfortunately, many aucubas are sold generically, but there are about 25 varieties in the trade. Ask your nurseryman to locate male and female varieties for you if they don't have them already.

Norman Winter is an author and executive director of the National Butterfly Center in Mission.