"Compacta" sweet myrtle is at home in arid or water-wise xeriscape plantings. It is our signature and we take extreme pride in growing these wonderful, collectible plants. University of Arizona Pima County Cooperative Extension: Myrtus Communis, How to Fertilize & Feed Pineapple Guava Shrubs. While other trees can be left to grow unchecked without severely altering their appearance, to keep topiaries looking their best they must be continuously trimmed back into shape. It's a bulky, dense, rounded plant with fine-textured foliage: glossy, bright green, oval, pointed leaves to 2 inches long, pleasantly aromatic when brushed or bruised. Cut out any dead, broken or diseased branches with a pair of pruning shears. Native to the Mediterranean, this venerable shrub has never quite made its mark in the South. What Kind of Soil Does a Sweet Almond Bush Need? Months will pass until a greater root structure is started and the small cuttings are potted up into 2″ plastic black grower pots. Faster growing species will require more frequent trimming. Keep soil moist at … $15.00 shipping. Myrtle can be sheared or pruned frequently, making it an excellent choice for hedges and topiaries. As such it is genetically adapted to warm, bright, dry (not humid) and windy conditions where it must often struggle to survive. The perfect shape. The evergreen shrub myrtle has glossy green leaves and a small white puff of a flower. It’s quite amazing to think about the care that is put into these living green friends of ours and its even a greater pleasure to share them with you the public! Rosemary. Phone: (207) 967-2414. Please use masks and social distancing. If you know you don’t have enough light where you really want them (on a mantle in a dark room) you may need to swap them out periodically, placing them in a sunny spot to grow well, then moving them back and forth. Because of its beauty, vigorous growth, and tolerance to clipping, the ancient Romans used myrtle extensively for topiary and it … 00. How to Water a Topiary. There are various shapes of topiaries such as a cone, pompon, and … Design Ideas Myrtle was a favorite garden plant of ancient Rome, where it was sheared regularly to release its fragrant oils. Care Water thoroughly. This woody shrub's salt-tolerant nature means it grows well in coastal gardens. © 2020 Snug Harbor Farm. It prefers a place in semi-shade outside during the hot summer. From shop ElementalBonsaiGardn. Fertilizer Mild liquid fertilizer once every two to three weeks. If you're new to topiary care, consider a slow-growing "Monterey Bay" (Eugenia myrtifolia "Monterey Bay") or "Teenie Genie" (Eugenia myrtifolia "Nanum"), which come trained in 2- to 15-gallon containers. The bark and roots are used to tan the finest Turkish and Russian leather to which they impart a delicate scent. The one pictured above is a year old, so patience and long care … Water topiary to keep it evenly moist. For best results, place the plant in a sink and water thoroughly, let drain, and move back to its growing location. It may be natural for your myrtles to lose their leaves this time of year, even though they're growing indoors. Myrtle is pretty easy to care for, but don’t forget to water her! Light Keep this plant out of direct sunlight in the summer time. Never let them sit in a saucer of water, and never let them completely dry out. An evergreen shrub from the Mediterranean and Middle East, myrtle has long been used as a symbol of love. Here the baby myrtles will again stay for months until even more roots are established as pictured above. Applying the fertilizer in spring, just before it starts actively growing, will give the shrub a boost as it produces new leaves and stems. Give them plenty of light – they prefer to be in sun in their native habitat, so a dark room won’t give them the light they need. The 12″ topiary pictured below is 2 years old so you can now gain a sense of the time it takes to create a finished product. Topiary trees require just a little bit more work than other trees when it comes to caring for them. After time we again transplant the young plants into either smaller Snug Harbor Farm pots or into a standard terra-cotta grower pot depending on what the actual myrtle is destined for whether it is a spiral, standard, globe or triple tier topiary. It all begins with the cuttings and propagation which you can learn all about from last weeks post right here https://snugharborfarm.com/blog/?p=37 .But in a quick synopsis we take cuttings from our older topiaries about two inches long, de-leaf the lower half, dip them in rooting hormone and supplant them in vermiculite in neat rows. This scent is used in perfumes, soaps and potpourris and can be enjoyed in your garden too. Step 1 Set the eugenia in an area that receives partial to full sunlight and allows 6 to 12 inches of space around each globe.