Horticulture Hotline 02-04-19
Bill Lamson-Scribner
I would like to talk about the plant that suffered with the
cold weather of 2018. The Red Bottlebrush (Callistemon citrinus) plant has
gained great popularity over the past 20 years in the Lowcountry. It is pretty much at the upper end of its
hardiness zone, which means with very cold temperatures it can get some cold
damage (last year). This plant has also
shown to release a natural herbicide that has been registered with the EPA for
home use. The label is very narrow, so read the label closely to see if it is a
fit for your situation. It is amazing how many products are being derived from
things in nature these days.
The bottlebrush makes a great screen. It has small leaves that can buffer a lot of
sound and visual pollution. The plant
can be used as an accent plant, in a container, or in a large buffer. Using bottlebrush as a screen gives you good
screening and good color with the flowers.
So many of our plant materials used for screening do not have showy
flowers. Be sure to blend in some cold hardy plants, if you are using
bottlebrush as a screen, in case we have that killing chill your buffer will
not be totally lost.
Hummingbirds, people, and butterflies attract to the
beautiful bottlebrush shaped flowers. I
have had so many hummingbirds around my bottlebrush that they looked like honey
bees! Butterflies enjoy the nectar from
the bottlebrush and add movement and color to your garden.
Currently the bottlebrush have little to no insect or
disease problems in this area. They are
very heat and drought tolerant and are almost considered a weed in Florida. Unlike azaleas and camellias, they can handle
sandy, low moisture, and low organic matter soils. They are also salt tolerant which means they
can be used around the beach or other salt water-front areas.
Recently a scientist working for Syngenta noticed that
certain weeds didn’t grow near his bottlebrush.
He isolated a chemical in the soil that was released from the
bottlebrush plant that actually kills weeds.
Syngenta has developed this into a new product, Tenacity, which has EPA
registration. This product is not meant for everyone, so read the label closely
before you decide to purchase Tenacity.
I had bottlebrush in my yard for over twenty years without
any ill effects from the cold. Last year they did take a hit, but many of them
are already blooming now. The bottlebrush is a great addition to the Lowcountry
landscape!
Spring is rapidly approaching. Are you ready? Remember this
is next year for your soil test!
