Vitex rotundifoliaBeach Vitex

Vitex rotundifolia grows on open beach sand, running long woody stems across the surface and rooting as it goes. Beach Vitex carries rounded, thick, silver-grey aromatic leaves and short spikes of small blue to lavender flowers through summer, and it will hold a dune face that nothing else will touch.

It is a specialist: a low, spreading, salt-hardened ground cover for the most exposed sandy positions on a coastal site.

Specifications

• Height0.3 to 0.6 metres, occasionally mounding to 1 metre
• Width3 to 6 metres, with runners rooting as they spread
• Native toCoasts of East and Southeast Asia, from Japan and China through to India, Australia and the Pacific
• FoliageRounded, thick, silvery-grey aromatic leaves on trailing woody stems; evergreen to semi-deciduous in cool winters
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilPrefers pure sand and saline coastal soils and requires sharp drainage
• LightFull sun
• WaterVery low; strongly drought-tolerant once established
• ClimateThrives in tropical, subtropical and warm temperate coastal regions

Additional Features

• FlowersShort spikes of small blue to lavender flowers carried through summer
• UsesIdeal for front-line dune stabilisation, coastal ground cover, sandy embankments and beach frontage
• SpacingPlant 0.8 to 1.2 metres apart for cover within two seasons
• Low MaintenanceRequires almost nothing in a coastal position; cut back where it runs beyond its area
• Pest ResistanceGenerally trouble-free in exposed conditions
• Salt ToleranceWithstands direct salt spray and partial burial by blown sand
• Drought ToleranceBuilt for open sand and holds condition on minimal irrigation
• Erosion ControlRoots at the nodes and binds loose sand across an open dune face

Beach Vitex holds ground in the harshest position on a coastal site, on sand, in salt spray, with no irrigation reaching it.