Skimmia japonica
Skimmia
Common names: Japanese Skimmia
At a glance
- Light
- Partial shade
- Hardiness
- Hardy
- Pruning
- Mar–Apr
- Flowering
- Mar–Apr
Photo: Kurt Stüber [1] · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Skimmia japonica is a small evergreen shrub with leathery, dark green leaves that provide winter structure. In autumn it displays thick, reddish buds that remain decorative throughout winter, before blooming in March to April (week 12 to 14) into fragrant white racemes. The species is dioecious, so a female and a male plant are needed for fruit production. Some cultivars, such as ‘Rubella’, feature deep red buds for added winter interest.
Care instructions
Prefers a semi‑shaded to shaded location, such as under light trees or on a north-facing wall. Soil should be humus-rich, well‑drained, and permanently acidic to slightly acidic; alkaline soils cause leaf yellowing. Keep the root zone consistently moist, both waterlogging and drought are poorly tolerated. In spring, apply a mulch layer of leaf litter or bark humus to keep the soil cool and stabilize pH. Pruning is rarely necessary; after flowering, trim overly long shoots gently if desired.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
FloweringMar–Apr
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, humus-rich, lime-avoiding, moist
Skimmias like loose, humus-rich soil that holds moisture without becoming waterlogged. They tolerate limy soil poorly, and then the leaves quickly turn yellow. You do best with rhododendron or ericaceous compost, mixed with a little garden compost.
Feeding
Medium feeder
Months
Mar, May
In early spring, work in a helping of horn shavings or mature compost shallowly; that is enough for the start of the season. A second, lighter portion in May supports flower bud formation and fruit set. Leaf compost as a mulch layer supplies nutrients on the side and keeps the root zone cool and moist.
Pruning
Skimmias grow compact by nature and need hardly any shaping. After flowering in spring you can cut back dead or overly long shoots to keep the shape. The plant tolerates a radical cut-back poorly, so it is better to cut a little often than a lot rarely.
Overwintering
Skimmias are hardy enough and usually need no special protection in the bed, although a mulch layer of leaves or bark mulch does no harm. Place container plants somewhere sheltered and partly shaded and protect the pot from frost from outside with horticultural fleece or hessian. Keep them evenly moist throughout, even in winter, because evergreen leaves keep losing water.
Propagation
Methods
- Cuttings
- From seed
Take semi-ripe cuttings in late summer from this year's lightly woody shoots and insert them in free-draining seed compost. In a bright, warm place out of full sun, roots form within a few weeks. For sowing you need ripe berries from a female plant; remove the flesh before sowing. Since skimmias are dioecious, you always need a male and a female plant nearby to get fruit.
For your garden
Grow Skimmia yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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