How to grow and where to plant Skimmia
Key Points
Height: compact 40-70cm, generally up to 1.5m
Light: dappled to full shade
soil: Any, not too wet or too dry, prefers slightly acidic, not ideal for chalk
Special features: compact evergreen shrub with attractive flowers and berries. Tough, easy to grow, low maintenance and fully hardy.
Skimmia is a woodland plant that grows best in dappled to full shade, and is very hardy will surviving even a tough winter, including when planted in a container. Skimmia is slow-growing and, once established, is trouble-free. An additional plus point is that Skimmia is not attractive to deer or rabbits. They are virtually maintenance-free, lovely white, often scented, flowers in the spring, followed by (on females) red berries in the autumn. Skimmia is an ideal-sized garden shrub for a smaller garden. T
I have tagged Skimmia green wheelbarrow, showing that it is easy to grow. Once planted in the right conditions, itis a tough, no maintenance shrub which needs no feeding or pruning.
How to Grow Skimmia in Containers
Skimmia is ideal for growing in containers. Compact and slow growing, Skimmia can remain in the same container for a number of years. Skimmia is fairly drought tolerant, more so when grown in open ground. In containers, Skimmia requires watering until established and may need watering in a prolonged drought.
Skimmia is ideal for bedding. Over winter, the red buds of 'Rubella' can make a festive display with Hellebores and Cyclamen. In the spring, as the flowers open, teamed up Tulip Angelique.
How to get Berries on Skimmias
All varieties of Skimmia produce flowers, but to get berries, you need to get the right combination of plants. Some plants are "dioecious" which means the plants are of different sexes. To get berries, you need plants of both sexes, although berries only appear on females. To make life easier, there are female hermaphrodite plants that will produce berries on their own. See Good Varieties of Skimmia to grow (below)for more information and tips. This should also be clear from the plant label.
Good varieties of Skimmia to grow for flowers and berries
If you would like scented flowers, Skimmia japonica ‘Fragrans’ has many white scented flowers in late spring. An upright form growing to around 1m. This is a male variety and will not produce berries.
I really like Skimmia japonica Rubella. Although male and so no berries, it has lovely dark red flower buds from late autumn throughout the winter , image top right. It adds colour during the winter months and is also ideal in containers for either a festive display or spring with tulips, see an image below. The flower buds pale as they open, eventually becoming white, and they are scented. H up to 120cm.
If you want skimmia with berries, you need a female plant with a male nearby or a hermaphrodite. Based on which good varieties for berries are: 'Olympic flame', lovely red berrie,s a compact shrub around 1.5m all round; 'Pabella' up to 1.5m but more slender around .5 m wide; 'Key white' has white berries, around 1.5m and the only variety which tolerates a sunny position.
What to do about yellow leaves on a Skimmia?
On the left is a really healthy looking Skimmia contrast with the Skimmia on the right, which is looking yellow and failing to thrive. Yellow leaves are often associated with chlorotic growth, but not so here. The problem is the position of the plant. The plant on the right is growing in too much sun, which Skimmia will not tolerate. A case of right plant, wrong place. If your skimmia looks sickly and as if it is dying, it could be suffering from too much sun.
With the exception of Skimmia 'Kew Green', plant all skimmia in light to full shade, their preferred growing conditions.
How to Prune Skimmia
The naturally neat and compact growth of Skimmia means it does not require pruning. Skimmia will tolerate a light trim, but it may not survive a regenerative hard prune. Prune after flowering, but be aware you may sacrifice the autumn display of berries.