Re: Leucophyllum frutescens
- Subject: Re: Leucophyllum frutescens
- From: d* f*
- Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 10:32:43 -0700 (PDT)
Leucophyllum can also be used as a clipped hedge, and
it ended up being much more resistant to the extreme
conditions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, than the Myrtus
communis which was originally specified as the
dominant hedging material throughout the palace
landscaping. It was able to tolerate daily overhead
spray irrigation and 125F temperatures,(possibly
because the planting medium was pure dune sand .5
meter deep over fractured limestone bedrock), when the
myrtus would fall prey to root fungi in the same
conditions. The one drawback was that it needed
almost monthly trimming to keep within bounds, and was
competely intolerant of being dug up and held for
replanting when irrigation repair or design changes
required it to be moved. It has a similar appearance
to Lavandula angusta when used as a trimmed hedge, and
will still bloom heavily even when constantly trimmed
in desert climates such as Riyadh's. In Riyadh it
would start blooming in late February, when the
daytime highs were already into the high 80'sF
It would have been interesting to see the limits of
its drought tolerance in such an extreme climate, but
it was always being used in conjunction with other
plantings that had to be watered heavily to survive.
In the onsite nursery, it was also prone to die off if
it was allowed to get overly dry between waterings.
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