Plant Database

Other Names:  Chinese Winterhazel

Description:

This attractive garden shrub is a harbinger of spring; dainty fragrant butter yellow flowers hang from bare branches in early spring, good habit of growth, and excellent fall color

Ornamental Features

Chinese Witch Hazel features delicate clusters of fragrant buttery yellow flowers hanging below the branches in early spring before the leaves. It has forest green deciduous foliage. The heart-shaped leaves turn an outstanding yellow in the fall.

Landscape Attributes

Chinese Witch Hazel is a dense multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a more or less rounded form. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and should only be pruned after flowering to avoid removing any of the current season's flowers. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Chinese Witch Hazel is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Chinese Witch Hazel will grow to be about 10 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 10 feet. It has a low canopy with a typical clearance of 1 foot from the ground, and is suitable for planting under power lines. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 40 years or more.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers to grow in average to moist conditions, and shouldn't be allowed to dry out. It is particular about its soil conditions, with a strong preference for rich, acidic soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution, and will benefit from being planted in a relatively sheltered location. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This species is not originally from North America.