Golden Acre Home & Garden Centre's Plant Library

Description:

This attractive dwarf shrub is exceptional for tight landscapes or rock gardens; emerging needles are blue-green and mature to a sea green, with a fall display of golden yellow; the stems and bark are of great winter interest

Ornamental Features

Wolterdingen Japanese Larch is primarily valued in the garden for its interestingly mounded form. It has attractive bluish-green deciduous foliage which emerges light green in spring. The needle-like leaves are highly ornamental and turn an outstanding gold in the fall. The gold stems are very effective and add winter interest.

Landscape Attributes

Wolterdingen Japanese Larch is a dense multi-stemmed deciduous shrub with a mounded form. It lends an extremely fine and delicate texture to the landscape composition which should be used to full effect.

This is a relatively low maintenance shrub, and usually looks its best without pruning, although it will tolerate pruning. Deer don't particularly care for this plant and will usually leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Wolterdingen Japanese Larch is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Mass Planting
• Rock/Alpine Gardens
• Border Edging
• General Garden Use

Planting & Growing

Wolterdingen Japanese Larch will grow to be about 3 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 3 feet. It tends to fill out right to the ground and therefore doesn't necessarily require facer plants in front. It grows at a medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for 70 years or more.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It is quite adaptable, prefering to grow in average to wet conditions, and will even tolerate some standing water. It is not particular as to soil type, but has a definite preference for acidic soils. It is quite intolerant of urban pollution, therefore inner city or urban streetside plantings are best avoided. Consider applying a thick mulch around the root zone in winter to protect it in exposed locations or colder microclimates. This is a selected variety of a species not originally from North America.