Sun, 18 Jan 2009

Beach Vitex
Some of my customers have bach vitex, an unusual small shrub with round, gray leaves and blueish purple flowers and gray berries, in their yards, and it took me awhile to figure out what to do with it. The answer: do nothing with it. This plant loses its leaves in the winter and it is tempting to cut it back to the ground, but you shouldn't. It is a rambling plant that sprawls all over close to the ground, kind of like some other shrubs often grown in Texas like coralberry. I only prune bach vitex in the late spring if it has dead branches or if it grows into a walkway or onto another plant. When pruning out of a walkway you should prune the bottom branches of the plant off completely first, allowing the top branches to fall down into the bottom branches' places. This should keep the plant in a natural shape and prevent it from looking like it was just chopped off. You can prune to shape it anytime. Beach vitex need nothing except hot sun and protection from crushing, so don't plant it near a driveway where it might get run over. I recommend compost and a light mulch once each year, no fertilizer is needed, but it responds well to a soil activator and compost tea treatments. As with most woody plants it is crucial to avoid piling up leaves, debris, compost and mulch around the stems of this plant or else it will rot. It tolerates underwatering and overwatering!

posted at: 21:20 | path: /colleen2009 | link for this entry

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