This Compact Shrub is Quietly Replacing Hydrangeas – It’s More Fragrant, Resilient, and Ideal for Urban Yards
Switch up your go-to shrub with this easygoing viburnum that won't outgrow its space
This is your cue to replace hydrangeas for something just as colourful, low maintenance and reliable. We have leant on them for far too long to bring easygoing charm to our backyards, ignoring some of the best scented shrubs available right on our doorstep. But the big issue here? Their size. Hydrangeas, as much as we adore them, can swamp a small yard fast.
I'm now turning to compact viburnum varieties such as the Korean spice viburnum, Viburnum carlesii. Their spicy-sweet fragrance can fill a yard from mid spring to early summer, while their foliage often turns beautiful rich shades of red and plum with the arrival of fall. And, importantly, they don't get too big.
The trouble with hydrangeas
Mophead hydrangeas can outgrow their space quickly
I had a beautiful white mophead hydrangea in my backyard, in a south-east facing flowerbed alongside the patio. It was a lovely thing for many years, obligingly coming into flower in late June, at first white and a zesty lime green.
Then those blooms would fade to a pretty antique pink. But boy did it get big. And that was with a rigorous pruning routine, carefully cutting back the flowered stems every year in early spring.
Pruning is crucial if you want to know how to grow hydrangeas, and not every gardener remembers that crucial spring cut. If you don't, a neat 2-foot youngster can rapidly become a lanky 6-foot teen of a shrub, all top blooms and a mass of brown stems beneath.
The opposite of what you want from a hydrangea, namely a neat rounded form popping with flowers from every angle. And if your backyard's on the smaller side, there's soon room for little else.
I've never had much success with the paniculata, or Limelight hydrangeas either. I've found that although the flowers are gorgeous, they flop far too easily. Not from drought this time, but the flowers are so huge and the stems just give under the weight.
Another disappointment I remember, many years ago while a gardening novice, was buying a blue hydrangea and seeing it turn a rather dusty, uninspiring pink after planting. Nobody had told me you need acid soil to keep that vivid blue color.
But what eventually had me digging up my mophead hydrangea earlier this year – and the reason why many gardeners are turning away from hydrangeas – was drought. Hydrangeas are thirsty shrubs (the clue's in the name, they need to be kept hydrated) and our summers have become ever drier over recent years. Last year was the final blow and my hydrangea just didn't re-shoot in spring.
After a respectable period of mourning, I'm now planning my hydrangea's replacement, and looking forward to planting a Korean spice viburnum. It's one of the best flowering shrubs, and it will give me color – and, perhaps as important, scent too – on a more compact and manageable shrub.
Why You'll Love Korean Spice Viburnums
The large pompoms of Korean spice viburnum are magnificently scented.
Korean spice viburnums, aka Viburnum carlesii, are natives of Korea and Japan, and naturalised in Ohio. There are plenty of cultivars to choose from (more on these later) but they're all bushy deciduous shrubs with copper-colored young leaves and wonderful scented pale pink waxy flowers in late spring to early summer.
You'll also get pretty red oval fruits in late summer, which ripen to black. The birds love these berries, so you'll be doing your local wildlife a favor too. All are, without a doubt, extremely low-maintenance plants.
Viburnum carlesii appreciates a spot in sun or part shade, and it's not fussy about soil, coping well in sandy, clay or good loam-based conditions.
Neutral to acid soil is best for viburnums. And yes, a roomy statement container like this Barnacle Droplet Planter from Anthropologie is a good option (or two, either side of your front door), as long as you provide a little more in terms of water and feeding.
The best time to prune shrubs depends on when they flower. and whether they flower on old or new growth. For Korean spice viburnum it should be done after flowering in early summer, but only if needed. Remove any dead, dying or diseased branches and trim back to keep them within the space you have available. Unlike hydrangeas, they respond well to hard pruning, which is best done in late spring, if you need to reduce their size significantly.
As with all shrubs, keep Korean spice viburnum well watered in its first year of growth, so those roots can get properly established. After that, it's relatively drought resistant, although it does appreciate a bit of water now and again.
You can give it an annual feed of slow-release fertilizer in spring to keep it in the best of health – these Miracle-Gro spikes from Home Depot are no-fuss and super handy.
All that being said, I think the main selling point of Korean spice viburnum is its incredible scent. It's as powerful and intoxicating as any Daphne, but with an unexpected spicy clove edge. And it really does travel, so in an enclosed yard, it's absolutely divine.
Hardiness: USDA zones: 4–7.
Korean Spice Varieties to Try
I have narrowed it down to a handful of Korean spice viburnum varieties. I want something that won't get too big, that will give me gorgeous scent and, of course, those lovely pompom flowers.
A real contender for me is 'Aurora'. I'm falling for the clusters of tight red buds that top each shoot in spring. These open to impressively large clusters of tubular pink flowers with a strong fragrance. It also has lovely downy foliage when young, which turns fiery orange and red in fall.
It'll eventually reach around 6ft 6in (2m), although like all Korean spice viburnums it's a slow grower. I know this will be reliable as it holds the UK's Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit.
Another option is 'Sugar n Spice'. It's similar to 'Aurora' but with a greater number of smaller flowers on a more compact shrub – to around 6ft (1.8m). Its foliage is a deep wine color in fall. You can buy 'Sugar n Spice' at Nature Hills Nursery.
'Compactum', as its name suggests, is a neat little shrub to around 4ft (1.2m). Its flowers are pink tinged maturing to a pure white in lovely rounded clusters.
Another RHS Award of Garden Merit holder, 'Diana' has a purplish tinge to the young leaves and is known for its rosy red flower buds that quickly turn pink, then near white and exceptionally fragrant when fully open. It grows to around 6ft 5in (2m).
You can find lots of Korean spice viburnum varieties at Nature Hills Nursery.
Whichever cultivar of Korean spice viburnum I choose, I know it's going to give brilliant fragrance with the minimum of effort – it's pretty much up there with a handful of shrubs that thrive on neglect. And it won't quickly outgrow its allotted space either.
Korean spice viburnum would also make a great front door plant. A pair would be brilliant either side of a run of steps leading to your entrance, welcoming you in with a heady waft of perfume each time you arrive home.
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