Viburnums for the Home Landscape

Tagged as: Viburnums, Viburnum, Home Landscape

Viburnums for the Home Landscape

• Tough, adaptable shrubs available in many sizes and forms to fit small or large properties
• Several selections available with wonderfully fragrant flowers
• Heavy fruiting varieties attract wildlife to the garden
• Many selections have exceptional fall color
• Selections for the upper Midwest lose their leaves in the fall (deciduous)
• Recommended for the Midwest on the basis of ornamental value, proven hardiness, availability, and freedom from serious problems.

Uses in the Landscape

• Larger forms are excellent for hedges to create privacy or a sense of enclosure, or to screen unwanted views
• Provide seasonal interest with flowers, colorful fruits, fall color, stem and bark color, texture, and form.
• Provide a focal point in the landscape
• Create structure or “bones” in a mixed border
• Provide a backdrop against which other plants can be highlighted.

Factors to Consider

Ultimate size

If your site is limited by overhangs or proximity to walkways, driveways, patios, buildings, or surrounding plantings, keep in mind the ultimate height and width of the plant you are selecting. Viburnums can be long-lived and difficult to remove if they outgrow their location. Or, they may require constant pruning to maintain a desired size. You’ll save yourself time, effort, and expense by selecting a shrub with a mature size that suits the site.

Exposure

Viburnums grow best in slightly moist but well drained soil. They are relatively pH adaptable and will grow in difficult conditions. Some selections of viburnums require full sun for the best production of flowers, fruits, and fall color. Other selections require partial shade for their best performance. Consult the chart for further information.

Maintenance

Viburnums will benefit from a periodic removal of older stems to reduce over-crowding, increase the production of flowering stems, and stimulate healthy new growth. Thinning or removing branches all the way to ground level can accomplish this. Pruning allows your shrub to maintain its natural shape while encouraging the development of new wood.

Flowers

Viburnums usually flower well every year. There are 3 general types of viburnum flowers. One group has flowers consisting of flat clusters several inches in diameter made up of hundreds of small, fertile, creamy-white flowers. Another group has rounded clusters of sterile flowers, which usually do not bear fruit. The last group has a lacecap flower consisting of a flat cluster of fertile flowers surrounded by large, white petals.

Fruit

Viburnums do not bear heavy crops of fruit annually. Good fruiting requires insect pollination. If weather is cold and rainy, with little insect activity when pollen is ripe, fruiting will be sparse. To insure a much more effective fruit display, plant viburnums in mass or plant closely related selections together.

Insects and Diseases

Viburnums are bothered by very few pests and diseases. Viburnum crown borer (Synanthedon fatifera), however, is a clearwing moth that causes most of its damage during its larval stage. Affected plants are girdled at the crown, often show early fall color, and are slow to break buds in the spring. A serious infestation can result in stem dieback of major portions of the plant.

Fungal leaf diseases can affect the aesthetic character of plants but are generally not life- threatening. Downy and powdery mildews can occur on plants in crowded plantings that lack proper air circulation, resulting in conditions favorable to mildew development.

Viburnums for the Home Landscape 

Botanical Name	Common Name	Height	Spread	Fruit*	Fall Color*	Cultural/Comments
Viburnum acerifolium	Maple-leaved Viburnum	4-6’	4-5’	Black	Pink to dark burgundy*	Shade to part sun; drought tolerant; creamy-white, flat-topped flowers in May; best for naturalizing. May be difficult to local in nurseries. Native to Midwest. (Zone 4-8)
Viburnum × carlcephalum	Fragrant Snowball Viburnum	6-10’	6-10’	Red to black	Reddish purple	Full sun to part shade; large, white, clove-scented flowers bloom one week later than V. carlesii; large- size shrub can become leggy with age. (Zone 5-7)
Viburnum carlesii	Korean Spice Viburnum	6-8’	4-6’	Red to black	Wine red*	Sun to part shade; requires well- drained soil; outstanding fragrant, white, semi-snowball- flowers..(Zone 5-7)
Viburnum carlesii 'Compactum'	Dwarf Korean Spice Viburnum	3-4’	3-4’	Red to black	Wine red*	Full sun to part shade; dwarf selection with darker green leaves. (Zone 5-7)
Viburnum cassinoides	Witherod	6-8’	4-6’	Pink to red to blue*	Orange to purple*	Full sun to part shade; elegant Midwest native with clean glossy foliage, outstanding fruits and fall color; requires a slightly acidic soil for best growth. May be difficult to locate in nurseries. (Zone 3-8)
Viburnum 'Cayuga'	Cayuga Viburnum	8-10’	6-8’	Red to black	None	Full sun to part shade; compact, tight-growing plant with incredible pink buds opening to fragrant white flowers. (Zone 5-7)
Viburnum dentatum	Southern Arrowwood	10-12’	5-6’	Red to bluish- purple*	Pink to red *	Sun or shade; versatile shrub adaptable to moist soils; white, flat-topped flowers in late May; late summer fruits attract birds. Native to Midwest. (Zone 3-8)
Viburnum dentatum 'Morton'	Southern Arrowwood - NORTHERN BURGUNDY®	10-12’	6-10’	Red to purple*	Burgundy*	Dense form; excellent dark green summer foliage; creamy-white flowers in late May; Chicagoland Grows™ introduction. (Zone 3-8)
Viburnum dentatum 'Ralph Senior'	Southern Arrowwood - AUTUMN JAZZ®	8-10’	10-12’	Red to purple*	Yellow orange to red *	Cultivar noted for its more upright habit; creamy-white flowers; Chicagoland Grows™ Introduction. (Zone 3-8)
Viburnum dentatum 'Synnestvedt'	Southern Arrowwood - CHICAGO LUSTRE®	8-10’	8-10’	Red to purple	Burgundy	Uniform rounded habit and lustrous leaves; inconsistent dark burgundy fall color; Chicagoland Grows™ Introduction. (Zone 3-8)
Viburnum farreri	Fragrant Viburnum	8-10’	8-10’	Few if any, yellow	Reddish purple	Part shade; upright habit; fragrant small pinkish-white flowers in April; needs a protected site, suffers stem dieback under exposed conditions. (Zone 5-8)
Viburnum × juddii	Judd's Viburnum	6-8’	6-8’	Red to black	Wine red*	Full sun to part shade; rounded, open habit; in May pink flower buds open to white, extremely fragrant, semi-snowball flowers. (Zone 4-8)
Viburnum lentago	Nannyberry	15-20’	10-15’	Blue-black	Maroon*	Full sun to part shade; shrub to small tree with tall arching habit; plagued by mildew late in the season which often affects fruit and fall color display. Native to Midwest. (Zone 3-7)
Viburnum nudum	Possum-Haw	6-8’	4-5’	Pink to red to blue	Reddish purple*	Full sun to part shade; lustrous green leaves; requires a slightly acidic soil for best growth. (Zone 5-9)
Viburnum opulus var. americanum	American Cranberry-bush Viburnum	8-12'	8-12'	Red*	Burgundy	Sun to part shade; can be used in moist but not wet sites; White, lace-cap flowers in May; fruits attract wildlife; prone to viburnum crown borer.  Native to Midwest (zones 2-7)
Viburnum opulus var. americanum 'Compactum'	Compact American Cranberry-bush Viburnum	5-6'	5-6'	Red	Yellow	Full sun to part shade; dwarf form can be used as a hedge or individual specimen plant (zones2-7)
Viburnum opulus var. americanum 'J.N. Select'	American Cranberry-bush Viburnum - REDWING®	6-8'	6-8'	Red	Burgundy	Full sun to part shade; new foliage and stems emerge with an attractive red color; Chicagoland Grows™ introduction (zones 2-7)
Viburnum plicatum	Japanese Doublefile Viburnum	8-10’	9-12’	Red to black	Burgundy	Full sun to part shade; large white flowers are arranged along top of distinct horizontal branches; plants can occasionally winter kill to the ground. ‘Newport’ is a dwarf selection. (Zone 5-7)
Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum	Doublefile Viburnum	6-8’	10-12’	Red to black	Burgundy	Full sun to part shade; distinct horizontal tiered habit; several cultivars available, many not hardy in our area, but can be grown with protection. (Zone 5-7)
Viburnum prunifolium	Black-Haw	12-15’	8-12’	Pink to blue- black	Purple-red*	Full sun to part shade; tree-like habit with wide spreading branches and glossy green foliage; tolerant of dry soil; elegant appearance warrants greater use of this species. Native to Midwest. (Zone 3-9)
Viburnum rafinesquianum	Downy Arrowwood	10-12’	5-6’	Red to purple	Burgundy	Full sun to part shade; has a more open spreading habit and smaller leaf size than V. dentatum. May be hard to locate in nurseries. Native to Midwest. (Zone 5-7)
Viburnum × rhytidophylloides	Hybrid Leatherleaf Viburnum	10-12’	10-12’	Red to black	Semi-evergreen	Full sun to part shade; excellent coarse deep green foliage lasts well into fall; yellowish-white, flat- topped flowers in May; exceptional as a screening shrub or used in a mixed border. (Zone 5-8)
Viburnum × rhytidophylloides 'Alleghany'	Alleghany Hybrid Leatherleaf Viburnum	8-10’	10-12’	Red to black	Semi-evergreen	Full sun to part shade; dense rounded habit; dark foliage provides an excellent contrast to the yellowish-white flowers and fruit. (Zone 5-8)
Viburnum × rhytidophylloides 'Willowwood'	Willowwood Hybrid Leatherleaf Viburnum	10-12’	10-12’	Red to black	Semi-evergreen	Full sun to part shade; large, vase- shaped, arching habit; dark leathery foliage; not as hardy as ‘Alleghany’; flowers in spring and repeats in fall. (Zone 5-8)
Viburnum ‘Emerald Triumph'	Emerald Triumph Viburnum	6-8’	6-8’	Red to black	None	Full sun to part shade; excellent dark green foliage with a long- lasting fruit display; winter hardy. (Zone 5-8)
Viburnum rhytidophyllum	Leatherleaf Viburnum	10-15’	10-15’	Red to black	Semi-evergreen	Full sun to part shade; upright habit with long arching branches; will winter kill to the ground in cold winters. (Zone 5-7)
Viburnum rufidulum	Southern Black- Haw	10-20’	10-15’	Blue-black	Burgundy*	Full sun to part shade; similar to V. prunifolium but with wider, lustrous sheen leaves. Native to Midwest. (Zone 5-9)
Viburnum rufidulum 'Morton'	Southern Black-haw - EMERALD CHARM™	10-12’	8-10’	Blue-black	Burgundy to scarlet red*	Full sun to part shade; excellent glossy foliage that turns burgundy to scarlet red in the fall; Chicagoland Grows™ introduction. (Zone 5-9)
Viburnum sargentii	Sargent’s Cranberry-Bush	12’	6’	Red	Red	Full sun to part shade; white, lace- cap flowers in May; good persistent red fruit; plant has a coarse vigorous habit. (Zone 3-7)
Viburnum sargentii 'Onondaga'	Onondaga Sargent Cranberry-Bush	12’	6’	Red	Yellow to red	Full sun to part shade; performs best in moist soil; excellent dark maroon foliage emerging in spring; susceptible to crown borer. (Zone 3-7)
Viburnum setigerum	Tea Viburnum	10-12’	8-10’	Red- orange*	Red to purple	Part shade; vase-shaped, leggy habit with pendant ornamental fruits; prefers afternoon shade. (Zone 5-7)
Viburnum sieboldii	Siebold Viburnum	15-20’	10-15’	Red to black*	Dark burgundy*	Full sun to part shade; large tree form with deeply pleated elegant foliage and large, showy white flowers; bark is attractive with age. Difficult to locate in nurseries. (Zone 4-7)

* Exceptional fruit/fall color

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