| Description | Pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis) is a short evergreen ground cover for the shaded areas. Spreads by rhizomes. |
|---|---|
| Pronunciation | (pak-i-SAN-dra)(ter-mi-NA-lis) |
| Plant Type | All Plants, Groundcovers and vines |
| Hardiness Zone | 3-8 |
| Sunlight | shaded areas, to much sun causes the lustrous dark green foliage, to become a yellow green, Yuck!!!!!!! |
| Moisture | average |
| Soil & Site | average, prefers moist, well-drained soils, if possible, a ph of 5.5-6.5 |
| Flowers | white flowers in the spring, located on the top, in the center of the whorl of foliage, early to mid April |
| Fruit | white, berry-like drupe |
| Leaves | The evergreen leaves appear to be whorled, and the new growth has a yellow tint.. The leaves are referred to as coriaceous or leathery. |
| Stems | rhizomes, rhizomatous |
| Dimensions | Sources list this plant as 6-12" tall; most areas I worked with 6-8" would be stretching the height; Pachy is a relatively slow spreader (initially), so the more plants per square foot, the quicker the fill, but the higher the cost. |
| Maintenance | very little |
| Propagation | cuttings, division, lifting and moving clumps |
| Native Site | Japan |
| Cultivar Origin | Introduced in 1882 |
| Misc Facts | The better the soil prep before planting, the quicker the cover and the more successful you will be. |
| Author's Notes | I stated above that it is slow to spread initially, but once it becomes established, it can be almost aggressive. I maintain a garden where I planted about 500 plants 20 years ago. Now plants need to be removed as they creep into the wood chip walks. Many are cascading over rocks and into the garden s pools. Remember best in shaded sites. |
| Notes & Reference | #01-Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Michael Dirr), #68-Groundcovers for the Midwest (Voight, Hamilton, Giles), #274-Site Authors' observations and growing experiences using Pachysandra. |
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