How to Grow Euonymus Fortunei

Euonymus fortunei is a low-growing evergreen shrub - some have white or yellow variegated leaves - that works well as a ground cover in sun. Euonymus fortunei thrives in USDA zones 5 to 9.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Bypass Pruners
• Fertilizers
• Garden Hoses
• Garden Spades
• Mulch
• Plants
• Seeds
• Shovels
• Seeds
• Plants
• Shovels

1. Look for plants at nurseries in spring and summer, or year-round in warmer climates.

2. Choose healthy-looking plants with signs of new growth in leaves and flower buds. Buy Euonymus fortunei in 4-inch to 1-gallon containers.

3. Choose a site with full sun and well-drained soil.

4. Dig a hole for each plant no deeper than the plants were growing in the containers; space the holes 2 feet apart.

5. Add a light application of organic fertilizer to the planting holes before setting the plants in.

6. Mulch around but not on top of the plants with 3 inches of organic compost.

7. Water well until soil is completely moist and weekly during summers with no rainfall.

8. Prune using bypass pruners only to remove dead or dying branches.

Tips & Warnings

• Euonymus fortunei is a good choice for the base of a wall where its branches can grow upward.
• Use Euonymus fortunei as a border along sunny paths.

on 11/22/2005 Your article on growing Euonymus fortunei was well done, but please advise people that the species is viscously invasive. It does this vegetatively only as a ground cover, but once it climbs up a tree (about 4 feet is all it takes) a hormonal change takes place and it turns into a thick-trunked vine that produces huge amounts of seed, which are in turn spread by birds. It is taking over Central Kentucky, as is Amur River Honeysuckle. You might want to suggest native plant alternatives.