Teucrium fruticansTree Germander

The Teucrium fruticans, commonly known as the Tree Germander or Silver Germander, is an open evergreen shrub of the western Mediterranean and north Africa. Its small, aromatic, grey-green leaves have felted white undersides and sit on white woolly stems, giving the whole plant a silver cast, lifted through much of the year by pale blue lipped flowers.

It clips well into silver hedging and mounds, and it takes heat, salt wind and thin alkaline soil without complaint. It is used for informal silver hedging, median mass planting, coastal beds and Mediterranean-character schemes.

Specifications

• Height1 to 2 metres
• Width1.5 to 2.5 metres
• Native toThe western Mediterranean and north Africa
• FoliageSmall, aromatic grey-green leaves with felted white undersides on white woolly stems; evergreen
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilRequires well-drained sandy, gravelly or stony soils; tolerates poor, shallow and alkaline ground
• LightFull sun
• WaterLow; strongly drought-tolerant once established
• ClimateThrives in Mediterranean, arid, semi-arid and coastal regions with hot dry summers

Additional Features

• FlowersPale blue lipped flowers carried over a long season, heaviest in spring and again after cooler weather
• UsesInformal silver hedging, median and roundabout mass planting, coastal beds, Mediterranean-character shrub layer
• SpacingPlant 1 to 1.5 metres apart for a continuous silver mass or clipped hedge
• Low MaintenanceClip after the main flowering to hold density; responds well to hard renovation pruning
• Pest ResistanceFree of significant pest and disease problems
• Drought ToleranceHigh, holding silver foliage through long hot dry periods
• Salt ToleranceTolerates coastal salt wind and mildly saline soils
• Seasonal AppealThe silver-grey foliage holds colour year round and reads strongly against dark green mass planting

The Tree Germander is a fast, clippable silver shrub that will hold its colour through a Gulf summer.