Polyscias guilfoyleiGeranium Aralia

Narrow beds need narrow plants, and Polyscias guilfoylei is one of the most useful of them. It grows straight up on slender stems, holding pinnate leaves edged irregularly in cream and white, and makes a dense screen at barely a metre of bed width.

In the tropics it is a standard boundary hedge. In Gulf and temperate interiors it is a long-serving pot plant, tolerant of shade and of the dry air that finishes most variegated foliage.

Specifications

• Height2 to 6 metres, or maintained lower as a clipped hedge
• Width1 to 2 metres
• Native toThe Pacific Islands
• FoliagePinnate leaves with toothed leaflets, irregularly margined in cream and white; evergreen
• Growth rateModerate

Conditions

• SoilPrefers rich, moist, free-draining soil
• LightFull sun to partial shade; variegation holds best in bright indirect light
• WaterModerate; keep evenly moist and do not allow it to dry out
• ClimateThrives in tropical and humid subtropical conditions and in conditioned interiors

Additional Features

• UsesNarrow hedging and screening, boundary planting, courtyards, containers and interior landscaping
• SpacingPlant 0.5 to 0.8 metres apart in a single row for a hedge
• Low MaintenanceTip prune regularly to keep the plant furnished to the base
• Pest ResistanceWatch for scale, mealybug and spider mite, particularly on interior plants
• FormAn upright, narrow, multi-stemmed shrub that occupies very little bed width
• VersatilityUsed equally as an outdoor hedge, a courtyard specimen and an interior plant
• Seasonal AppealVariegated foliage holds colour all year with no flowering season to manage

Geranium Aralia is the screening plant for beds too narrow for anything else, indoors or out.