Originally Posted by
INTIMIDATOR
In short, Wax Myrtle is deer resistant, heat and drought tolerant and grows fast in even poor soil. What more could you want in a carefree shrub?
If a partition or screen is your objective, then Wax Myrtle performs flawlessly. This shrub, with its dense foliage and quick-growing nature can easily be planted in multiples and shaped into a privacy hedge with occasional pruning.
With proper training, the Wax Myrtle also serves well as a small accent tree. This plant’s foliage and berries are pleasingly fragrant, making it a great addition to your outdoor living space.
The Wax Myrtle blooms in the spring with tiny yellow-green flowers that are daintily aromatic.
Female Myrtle’s will bear fruit berries that grow in clusters, and are green with an attractive bluish-white wax coating that lends them a vaporous gray appearance. The fruit matures in the fall and remains throughout winter, attracting a multitude of birds.
As a point of interest, the Wax Myrtle is also known as a Bayberry, because the wax can be separated from the fruit in boiling water to make fragrant bayberry scented candles. If you are crafty and enjoy making candles, this plant is a must have.
Known for its adaptable nature, the Wax Myrtle will put up with moist or dry soil and even grows well in infertile soils, but you’ll get a truly crowning specimen with a bit of proper watering and fertilizer.
Wax Myrtles grow in either full sun or partial shade, and enjoy quite a lengthy life span. These plants are so trouble-free they practically take care of themselves.
Myrtle is “green” in more ways than one, as it returns nitrogen to the soil and organically repels insects. Clip a few sprigs of this evergreen and place them around your closet or inside dresser drawers for a spicy hint of bayberry--you’ll never buy another commercially-sold sachet again.
These fast-growing shrubs can grow as much as 5 feet per year, and reach mature heights upwards of 20 feet with an equivalent spread. So if shade is your goal, this tree certainly fits that bill.
This is what everyone in my area uses. very good material.CF
The Original Woodsgoat Hater
2011 NWR Bash Yellow Perch Champion