Fragrant sumac

Fragrant sumac: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Low, wide, dense shrub about 1 m tall and 2 m wide with arching branches. Selections such as ‘Gro-Low’ stay lower.

Leaves

Three-parted: three leaflets of 3–8 cm, coarsely lobed, glossy dark green and aromatic when crushed.

Flowers

Small yellow-green catkin-like spikes in April, before the leaves. Male and female flowers are usually on separate plants.

Fruit

Small red, hairy fruits in clusters in summer, on female plants only.

Autumn colour

Orange, red to purple, often fiery and long lasting.

Flowering: April · Plants: March–April and October–November · Pruning: March

Why grow it?

• Wonderful autumn colour in orange, red and purple, even on poor, dry soil.
• Drought tolerant and undemanding: ideal for sunny, dry spots and slopes.
• Low forms make good ground cover that suppresses weeds and holds a bank in place.
• Flowers as early as April, before the leaves, giving bees something to visit in early spring.
• The leaves smell fresh and resinous when crushed.
• Fully hardy and low maintenance.

Fragrant sumac: where does it grow best?

• Sun to partial shade; the autumn colour is best in sun.
• Any well-drained soil: sand, loam or clay, even poor and chalky. It dislikes wet feet.
• Dry to normally moist; once established it is very drought tolerant.
• Excellent for slopes, edges and places where little else will grow.
• Allow 1–1.5 m between plants as ground cover and 1.5–2 m for a free-standing shrub.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Dry or normal

Size

1 m tall, 2 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -30 °C)

Goes well with

• Lavender: Likes the same sunny, dry spot and flowers in summer.
• Ornamental grasses: Soft plumes, such as feather grass or fescue, for a natural look on a bank.
• Stonecrop: A succulent that also tolerates drought, with late-summer flowers.
• Coneflower: Large summer flowers in a sunny, well-drained spot.
• Sage: Purple flower spikes in summer in a dry, sunny border.

Fragrant sumac: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–April and October–November.

1. Plant in March–April or in October–November, when the soil is neither frozen nor waterlogged.
2. Clear the spot of weeds: young plants cope poorly with competition.
3. Dig a hole twice as wide as the pot and just as deep.
4. Set the plant at the same depth as in its pot, fill in with soil and firm it well.
5. Water in generously straight away, even if it is raining.
6. Spread a layer of bark or compost around the plants to suppress weeds; for ground cover set plants 1–1.5 m apart, closer gives faster cover.

Care

Water

In the first year give a good can of water weekly in dry spells. After that it manages on its own, even in dry summers.

Feeding

Usually unnecessary. A handful of compost in spring is enough, especially on poor soil.

Mulching

Keep the soil covered with bark or compost in the first years against weeds and drying out.

Weeding

Weed for the first two years, until the shrubs knit together. After that they suppress weeds themselves.

Suckers

Cut off with a spade any suckers that come up outside the area you want.

Tip: For a dry slope, plant it in spring and keep weeds down for the first two years: after that it closes up and suppresses new weeds. Choose a low selection such as ‘Gro-Low’ if you do not want a shrub of 1 m.

Fragrant sumac: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March.

When: It needs hardly any pruning. Do a tidy-up in late February–March, before it comes into leaf.

How:

• Remove dead, damaged or crossing branches.
• Every few years cut out the oldest stems at the base to renew the shrub.
• If it has spread too wide, trim it back along the edge or cut off the suckers.
• For a thorough renewal you can cut it back to near the ground in March; it will regrow from the base.

Caution: Do not prune in autumn: you would lose the autumn colour and the young shoots could be killed by frost.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Separating suckers

In spring or autumn, cut off a rooted sucker with a spade and replant it at once. This is the easiest method.

Layering

Branches that touch the ground often root by themselves. You can sever and move such a branch in autumn.

Seed

It is possible, but the hard seed coat and the dormancy make it slow. Sow in autumn in a pot outdoors, so that the cold winter does the work. Seedlings vary and may be male or female.

Fragrant sumac: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• Fully hardy to about −30 °C: in Belgium no protection is needed.
• The bare branches are low and dense; the leaves drop after the autumn colour.
• In a pot: stand it against a sheltered wall and wrap the pot in hessian in severe frost.

Diseases and pests

• Root rot: In wet, heavy soil the shrub declines and dies. Plant in a free-draining spot and raise heavy clay with sand or rubble.
• Powdery mildew: White powder on the leaves in a spot that is too shady and stuffy. Choose a sunnier place and leave space between plants.
• Aphids: Seldom a problem. Rinse them off with water or let ladybirds do the work.
• Spreading: It spreads by suckers and arching branches. Cut off suckers, or give it room as ground cover.

Through the year

• February: Tidy-up: cut out dead wood.
• March: Prune or renew. Plant. Spread mulch.
• April: Flowering, before the leaves. Plant.
• May: The leaves unfold. Weed around young plants.
• June: Water young plants in dry weather.
• July: Red fruits on the female plants.
• September: The leaves begin to colour.
• October: Autumn colour in orange and red. Plant.
• November: Plant. The leaves fall.

Good for wildlife

Bees

Nectar and pollen for honeybees and wild bees.

Did you know?

• The shrub is usually dioecious: only the female plants carry the red fruits.
• The sour spice ‘sumac’ of Middle Eastern cooking comes from a related species, Rhus coriaria, not from this shrub.
• The flowers appear before the leaves, so they feed bees and other insects as early as April.