How to Select Nandina Plants

Nandina is an easy to grow versatile shrub. Called Heavenly Bamboo due to its long canes and slender leaves, this hardy shrub lives up to 100 years. It is a seasonal show-off with delicate new red leaves and white flowers in spring. By summer, the leaves are green with berries forming. Autumn brings red leaves and red berries. Plant nandina and enjoy its changing beauty year-round.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Nandina plants
• Nandina cuttings

1. 
    

   Sketch out a landscape for nandina based on height. The tallest varieties grow 6 to 8 feet tall and, un-pruned, grow 3 to 5 feet across. One large nandina is a great focal point. In rows or groups plant them to the side or as a backdrop to other landscape plants. Medium nandina grow 2 to 4 feet tall. They are popular all-around shrubs and fit almost any garden area. Dwarf nandina grow up to 2 feet tall. They are excellent border and container plants. Dwarf varieties blend well with perennial or annual flowerbeds.

2. Design a privacy screen or hide a fence with tall nandina like Moyer's Red or Royal Princess. Plant several in a row to form a leafy wall. Use 1- or 2-foot tall nandina at the end of a patio for added privacy. These plants tolerate part shade and need little water once they are established. A full nandina between a house and fence is a nice visual barrier against street traffic.

3. Grace an entryway with nandina. Legend says nandina is called the friendship plant because it is always ready at the front or back door to listen to the worries of the head of household. Believers say the nandina keeps bad dreams from coming true. Nandina at an entry is a lacy welcoming plant.

4. 
    

   Create a colorful hedge with nandina. Choose varieties such as Gulf Stream or Sienna Sunrise. In most regions nandina grows 1 to 2 feet a year. It rarely needs pruning but is easily trimmed for a freestanding or foundation hedge.

5. Make a striking garden or foundation bed with mixed perennials like nandina, azaleas, gardenias or camellias. Nandina partners well with evergreens like junipers to fill a driveway island. Plant nandina among perennials like lavender for height and color variety.

6. 
    

   Cover a landscape area by mass planting nandina. Let the plants fill out as bushy shrubs or prune them to slender stems with sparse foliage like a small tree grove. In Asian gardens nandina plants are often pruned to look like bamboo.

Tips & Warnings

• Use fresh nandina branches as foliage in cut flower vases.
• The white nandina flowers are often dried for dry flower arrangements.
• Plant containers with dwarf varieties like Firepower or Alba for the entry or patio.
• Heavenly Bamboo is invasive in southern regions such as Florida. In these regions use dwarf varieties because they do not spread aggressively.
• Nandina is poisonous. Keep young children and pets at the chewing stage away from the plants and especially the berries.