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Description:

A beautiful accent tree with magnificent mottled bark in cream, brown and tan, stunning in winter; widely used in bonsai cultivation; needs organic, acidic soil and protection from drying winds, a rather sensitive plant

Ornamental Features

Dwarf Compact Japanese Stewartia is primarily valued in the landscape or garden for its ornamental upright and spreading habit of growth. It features delicate white flowers along the branches in mid summer. It has forest green deciduous foliage. The small pointy leaves turn an outstanding red in the fall. The mottled khaki (brownish-green) bark is extremely showy and adds significant winter interest.

Landscape Attributes

Dwarf Compact Japanese Stewartia is a dense multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Dwarf Compact Japanese Stewartia is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• General Garden Use
• Container Planting

Planting & Growing

Dwarf Compact Japanese Stewartia will grow to be about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 8 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 70 years or more.

This shrub performs well in both full sun and full shade. It requires an evenly moist well-drained soil for optimal growth, but will die in standing water. It is very fussy about its soil conditions and must have rich, acidic soils to ensure success, and is subject to chlorosis (yellowing) of the foliage in alkaline soils. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.

Dwarf Compact Japanese Stewartia makes a fine choice for the outdoor landscape, but it is also well-suited for use in outdoor pots and containers. Its large size and upright habit of growth lend it for use as a solitary accent, or in a composition surrounded by smaller plants around the base and those that spill over the edges. It is even sizeable enough that it can be grown alone in a suitable container. Note that when grown in a container, it may not perform exactly as indicated on the tag - this is to be expected. Also note that when growing plants in outdoor containers and baskets, they may require more frequent waterings than they would in the yard or garden. Be aware that in our climate, this plant may be too tender to survive the winter if left outdoors in a container. Contact our experts for more information on how to protect it over the winter months.