With its peeling reddish bark and mysterious twisting branches, manzanita is an iconic shrub in dry chaparral habitats. This evergreen native grows alongside the Pacific Coast from Baja, Mexico to southern British Columbia and eastward into Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
Thriving in areas with dry summers and poor soils, manzanitas are surprisingly adaptable to nearly any backyard. They’re low-maintenance crops that add beautiful burgundy-red colour and wildlife worth to your backyard. Within the winter, their exfoliating bark affords vibrant mahogany hues that distinction the barren panorama.
Although typically grown as small bushes, manzanitas have a shrubby behavior with a number of sculptural branches that emerge from a central base. The lantern-like flowers of late winter yield to blush fruit clusters in early summer season. The crops are wonderful additions to a xeriscape or water-wise backyard. Birds, native bees, and butterflies go wild for the blossoms and fruits.
Manzanitas belong to the Arctostaphylos genus, which incorporates about 60 species of evergreen shrubs, small bushes, and creeping floor covers. This numerous group contains a whole bunch of cultivars and varieties, all of them belonging to the Ericaceae (heath) household. This text will concentrate on the widespread manzanita, Arctostaphylos manzanita, with ideas for rising a lot of its cousins as nicely.
Let’s dig into the most effective ideas for rising beautiful evergreen manzanitas in your backyard.
Overview
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Historical past and Cultivation
Manzanitas (Arctostaphylos spp.) are a genus of chaparral crops identified for his or her curving dramatic stems and reddish-purple bark. They develop from coastal areas to excessive mountains, with species that vary from stout groundcovers to twenty+ foot bushes.
The bark peels as soon as per 12 months and holds a shocking distinction towards the evergreen foliage. Manzanitas produce aromatic winter flowers formed like dangling urns. In the summertime, they flip into clusters of fruits that appear to be tiny apples. In Spanish, manzanita means “little apple.”
It’s essential to discover a manzanita particularly tailored to your local weather, as there’s a whole lot of variety, vary, and type inside the genus. All of those crops are drought-hardy and like full solar.
What’s Widespread Manzanita?
Widespread manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita) is an evergreen chaparral shrub typically referred to as whiteleaf manzanita or huge manzanita. It has crooked branches, ovate evergreen leaves, and iconic purple peeling bark.
Though it’s sometimes called a tree, the sprawling behavior is extra shrub-like, solely sometimes forming a central trunk. It’s native to the coast ranges of California and the Sierra Nevada foothills, the place it thrives on dry, uncovered slopes alongside different chaparral crops like sagebrush (Artemisia californica), Ceanothus spp., and coyote bush (Baccharis pilularis).
The place Does Manzanita Develop?
Most manzanita crops are native to arid chaparral areas, oak woodlands, and coniferous forests of western North America. They thrive in areas with sizzling, dry summers and delicate, moist winters, from Baja Mexico to California, Oregon, and Washington, and inland to Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.
There are greater than 100 manzanita species, a lot of that are native to California. It’s essential to decide on a species tailored to your area.
Is Manzanita OK for Wildfire Areas?
Manzanita shrubs are not really useful for firewise landscaping. Because of the excessive content material of risky oils in manzanita crops, they burn like torches when ignited. Additionally they produce a whole lot of deadwood that may act as ladder gas to a wildfire. That is notably harmful if the crops are grown close to flammable constructions like your own home.
When you reside in a fire-prone area like Arizona or California and you continue to want to develop these enticing drought-tolerant crops, isolate the shrubs at the least 100 toes from your own home and observe common upkeep by eradicating the deadwood and clearing the bottom.
Propagation
Widespread manzanita may be propagated by seed, however it’s a lot simpler to develop from slicing.
Seed
Seed propagation of manzanita is troublesome however rewarding. The seeds naturally germinate after publicity to wildfires. You’ll be able to harvest the ripe fruits in the summertime and soak them in water. It will take away the outer fleshy elements of the berries so you possibly can entry the seeds or “nutlets.” The nutlets will float to the highest, the place you possibly can skim them off by hand or with a advantageous strainer.
Curiously, manzanita seeds germinate within the wild after fires. The seed coats of most manzanitas are fairly arduous, so scarification and hearth publicity are each obligatory to enhance germination.
Scarification means scarring the seed with a pointy knife. Then, you possibly can sow the seeds in a flat of peat moss and sand about twice as deep as they’re large. Place the flat on the bottom, and layer 3-4 inches of pine needles on high of the seeds. Gentle the pine duff on hearth on high of the seedbed, taking care to not burn the flat.
As soon as the seeds have undergone the remedies, present average moisture and observe persistence. It’s simpler to allow them to germinate exterior within the backyard, as they will take as much as a 12 months to sprout. As soon as sprouted, you possibly can transplant it as wanted.
Slicing
Early spring, from March to Might, is the most effective time to take cuttings from manzanita as a result of the terminal shoots are simply rising with new progress. This can be a type of vegetative propagation that basically clones the unique plant by slicing younger twigs and inspiring them to develop new roots to allow them to mature into their very own plant.
To take a manzanita slicing:
- Use sharp, sanitized pruners or a knife.
- Select a mature, wholesome manzanita with no indicators of Sudden Oak Demise illness (see under for signs).
- Reduce from newly sprouted terminal (finish) inexperienced shoots.
- Make cuttings 6” lengthy, together with 1-2” of the woody stem from final 12 months’s progress.
- Dip the minimize finish in rooting hormone.
- Place in a moist combination of sand and peat moss.
- Repeatedly water for a number of weeks till a light-weight tug signifies that the cuttings shaped roots.
- Cuttings may be transplanted into containers or straight into the bottom.
Planting
Normally, manzanitas don’t transplant nicely as a result of the roots actually dislike disturbance. To forestall transplant shock, deal with the roots very rigorously and transplant shrubs throughout a semi-dormant state.
It is vital {that a} slicing or sapling has reached a wholesome dimension in its container. Its roots ought to completely fill out the pot with out displaying indicators of rootbinding (twirling round in tight, matted circles).
Find out how to Transplant
The very best time to transplant manzanita begins is in late fall or early winter when the crops should not actively rising.
To maneuver this shrub into the bottom:
- Dig a gap about twice as large and 1.5 instances as deep as the basis ball.
- Loosen the encompassing soil with a pitchfork or shovel.
- Grasp the seedling or sapling from its base and gently shimmy the pot away from the roots.
- Place the plant within the gap upright, with the soil stage on the identical place.
- Backfill and water completely to assist it get established.
Spacing
Widespread manzanitas are finest planted 5-15 toes aside, relying on the variability and desired mature dimension. For extra tree-like specimens, select wider spacing and prune away younger aspect shoots from the bottom.
Different species will fluctuate primarily based on their progress behavior. For instance, Arctostaphylos ‘Emerald Carpet’ is a groundcover manzanita finest planted with about 30” of house between them. Uva ursi (bearberry) crops may be grown simply 3-5 toes aside. Test your native native plant nursery or college extension workplace web site for extra details about spacing for varieties endemic to your area.
Find out how to Develop
These drought-tolerant evergreens are straightforward to develop in dry areas with full solar to partial shade. They thrive predominantly within the West and Southwest. They don’t do nicely in chilly, humid climates of the East.
Gentle
Plant manzanita in an space the place it will probably obtain 6-8 hours of direct solar per day. Whereas they will tolerate much less solar, partially shaded shrubs might develop extra branched and stouter with fewer flowers.
Water
These arid local weather crops are among the many finest alternatives for xeriscapes and areas with out irrigation. They’re extraordinarily drought-tolerant and like dry, heat summers.
Solely water throughout institution. When you plant a species native to your area, they will usually subsist on the pure rainfall alone.
Soil
Effectively-drained soil is good for manzanitas. Sandy to sandy loam and silty loam soil is appropriate. They won’t develop nicely in waterlogged heavy clay. Barely acidic soils are widespread the place this plant grows wild in coniferous forests. Pine needle mulch and peat moss can enhance the pH and drainage.
Local weather and Temperature
Most Arctostaphylos varieties are tailored to delicate Mediterranean areas or sizzling, arid climates. Widespread manzanita is solely hardy in USDA zones 8-10, whereas greenleaf manzanita (A. patula) can face up to very chilly winters at excessive elevations within the Sierra Nevada mountains. Once more, test your selection earlier than planting, as some manzanitas will die at temperatures under 15°F (-9°C).
Fertilizing
No fertilizer is important for these distinctive, twisty shrubs. They thrive in poor soils and develop wild with none assist from people.
Upkeep
You’ll be able to calmly prune your shrub after it blooms, however this isn’t obligatory. In areas liable to wildfire, deadwood elimination and cleanup across the base of shrubs is inspired.
Varieties
Along with widespread manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita), these species and cultivars make standard panorama crops of their respective areas:
Arctostaphylos ‘Emerald Carpet’ Floor Cowl
If you would like a low-growing groundcover, ‘Emerald Carpet’ is a stupendous, verdant inexperienced hedge or creeping vine that thrives in drought-prone California landscapes. It has shiny inexperienced leaves and brilliant purple stems that develop from 6” to 1 foot tall.
Bearberry (A. uva-ursi)
Also referred to as kinnikinnick or uva ursi, this creeping species maxes out at 6 inches and likewise makes a pleasant floor cowl. It’s nice for wildfire-prone landscapes like Arizona as a result of it has a decreased flammability hazard. The uva ursi berries are used medicinally.
Greenleaf Manzanita (A. patula)
This mid-sized shrub grows 3-6 toes tall and has brilliant pink bell-shaped flowers. It’s extra fire-resistant and typically used as erosion management on slopes because of the simply rooting stems. It’s native from California to Oregon, Utah, Nevada, Colorado, and north into Montana and Washington.
Pinemat Manzanita (A. nevadensis)
This low-growing floor cowl spreads 3-5 toes large as its intricately branched stems freely root within the floor. The evergreen foliage creates a stupendous backdrop to pale pink flowers within the early spring. This species is finest for moist, higher-elevation climates.
Yellow Leaf Manzanita (A. pringlei)
Generally referred to as the pringle manzanita, this species is from the Southwest, rising particularly on dry, rocky slopes of chaparral alongside pinyon pines and juniper bushes. The crops type dense thickets and develop 5 toes or taller.
Design Concepts
Most species of manzanita thrive alongside different extremely drought-tolerant chaparral native crops.
California Sagebrush (Artemisia californica)
One of many hardest natives you possibly can develop, this resilient shrub thrives in dry, open areas. The silvery-green frilly tops of sagebrush look stunning with the mahogany-red stems and darkish, shiny leaves of manzanita.
Deerweed (Acmispon glaber)
One other widespread comrade of manzanitas of their wild habitat, deerweed produces intriguing stalks of yellow pea-shaped flowers. This plant is a pioneer species that’s typically the primary to return after wildfires. It doesn’t want any water or upkeep.
Penstemon (Penstemon spp.)
Wild penstemons are perennial herbs native to Central, Southern, and Baja California, notably within the excessive desert and chaparral areas. They produce beautiful purple flowers that hummingbirds adore.
Ceanothus (Ceanothus spp.)
The fluffy clusters of ceanothus flowers are extremely aromatic and placing alongside manzanita plantings. Regardless of their charming look, these shrubs are drought-tolerant and fire-resistant, tolerating the identical situations as different hardy chaparral crops listed above.
Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa)
If you wish to develop a local forest backyard or discover a good complement for pine groves close to the sting of your forest, plant manzanita inside 15-30 toes of ponderosas. This blended tradition is particularly widespread in wild elements of the central Sierra Nevada vary.
Pests and Ailments
Manzanitas are extremely rugged and solely not often face these issues.
Manzanita Leaf Gall Aphid
When you discover manzanita leaves swollen into pod-shaped galls, it’s seemingly attributable to this gray-green aphid. The aphids feed on new progress and trigger the leaves to thicken across the wounds, forming brilliant purple swollen galls that flip brown as they age.
To deal with it, keep away from over-irrigating or pruning the crops. Don’t fertilize manzanitas, particularly with high-nitrogen fertilizer, as this could appeal to the aphids to the nutrient-rich sap. Horticultural oil or neem can be utilized to kill clustered infestations.
Sudden Oak Demise
The pathogen Phytophthora ramorum causes a virus that kills some oak bushes, together with coast reside oak and tanoak. The pathogen sometimes colonizes widespread manzanita in elements of northern California. Signs embody darkish spots on the leaves, typically lined by a black border. Complete branches might brown, wilt, and die again.
The illness spreads by rain splash and human transport of contaminated crops. All the time look at a manzanita shrub earlier than planting or propagating. There isn’t a remedy, however some fungicides can suppress the illness. You will need to rigorously take away contaminated elements and burn them to stop the unfold.
Plant Makes use of
Manzanita is primarily a wild native shrub with use as a drought-tolerant panorama specimen. The fruits are edible and thought of an area superfood in some locations. The ripe purple berries may be eaten uncooked, made into jam, brewed into cider, or added to smoothies.
Native Individuals used manzanita leaves and berries for medicinal functions. Curiously, the soaked leaves are identified to make a fantastic poultice (high dressing) for pores and skin with a poison oak rash.
Closing Ideas
Arctostaphylos is an amazingly numerous and resilient genus of shrubs, most with the long-lasting purple peeling bark and curvy, twisting branches. Manzanitas develop finest in areas with dry, sizzling summers and sandy, well-drained soils.
The crops have delicate roots, so be very cautious when transplanting. Make sure you choose a species native to your area and keep away from planting manzanita close to your own home for those who reside in a wildfire-prone space.