Everyone should plant this viburnum for its springtime fragrance.
Reserve space in your landscape for the beautiful and fragrant Koreanspice viburnum. Select a location near a window, along a walkway or by your patio or deck where you can enjoy the fragrant spring blooms, lovely summer foliage and outstanding fall color.
Grow this easy-care shrub in full sun or partial shade with moist well-drained soil for best results. The plants will tolerate a bit more shade but the flower and fall color display will be less outstanding.
Enjoy the season long display as the red buds open to pink tinged flowers that fade to white. The snowball shaped flowers have a rich spicy fragrance that perfumes the nearby lawn, gardens and seating areas. A few blue-black berries appear in late summer. And the plant goes out in a blaze of color as the dark green leaves turn wine-red in the fall.
This rounded shrub needs minimal pruning if planted in a location large enough to accommodate its mature size of 4 to feet tall and 4 to 6 or 8 feet wide. Wait until right after the spring flowers fade if pruning is needed.
Combine Koreanspice viburnum with other shrubs and perennials to extend color and fragrance throughout the season. Fragrant Summersweet (Clethra) and Annabelle type hydrangeas add color to the summer garden. Shade tolerant astilbe, hosta, ferns, coral bells and Rodgersia add season long texture and color to Koreanspice viburnum plantings.
Mulch the soil surface surrounding these and other shrubs with a 2 inch layer of shredded bark or woodchips. Pull the bark away form the stems to avoid rot. Mulching conserves moisture, suppresses weeds, and helps improve the soil as it breaks down.
Not only is Koreanspice viburnum low maintenance, it also tolerates black walnut toxicity. So add this to your planting plans when landscaping near black walnut trees.
Plant a few Koreanspice viburnums this spring and enjoy the added aromatherapy in your landscape. Look for few more locations where you can plant and enjoy these low maintenance beauties…
Koreanspice Viburnum at a Glance
Name: Koreanspice Viburnum (Viburnum carlesii)
Size: 4 to 6 feet tall x 4 to 8 feet wide
Light: Full sun to part shade
Water: Water thoroughly whenever the top 4 to 6” inches of soil are crumbly and moist.
Fertilizer: Use a low nitrogen slow release fertilizer at planting or after one year and only if plants need a nutrient boost.
Soil: Evenly moist and well drained
