BROWSE HOW TOs

How to Grow Euonymus Fortunei

By eHow Home & Garden Editor

Rate: (6 Ratings)

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.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Bypass Pruners
Fertilizers
Garden Hoses
Garden Spades
Mulch
Plants
Seeds
Shovels

Step1

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

Step2

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

Step3

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

Step4

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

Step5

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

Step6

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

Step7

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

Step8

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.

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Comments

Anonymous said

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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.