Other Names:  Knife-leaved Wattle, Knife Leaf Wattle

Description:

A multi-trunked shrub or small tree featuring attractive, gray-green triangular foliage, tightly held to arching gray branches; clusters of fragrant, bright yellow flowers in spring; reliable cold hardiness; an excellent water conservation shrub

Ornamental Features

Knifeleaf Wattle features showy clusters of fragrant yellow ball-shaped flowers along the branches from late winter to early spring. It has attractive grayish green evergreen foliage. The pointy leaves are highly ornamental and remain grayish green throughout the winter.

Landscape Attributes

Knifeleaf Wattle is a multi-stemmed evergreen shrub with an upright spreading habit of growth. 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 is a good choice for attracting birds, bees and butterflies to your yard, but is not particularly attractive to deer who tend to leave it alone in favor of tastier treats. It has no significant negative characteristics.

Knifeleaf Wattle is recommended for the following landscape applications;

• Accent
• Mass Planting
• Hedges/Screening

Planting & Growing

Knifeleaf Wattle will grow to be about 15 feet tall at maturity, with a spread of 15 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 medium rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 30 years.

This shrub does best in full sun to partial shade. It prefers dry to average moisture levels with very well-drained soil, and will often die in standing water. It is considered to be drought-tolerant, and thus makes an ideal choice for xeriscaping or the moisture-conserving landscape. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in sandy soils. It is somewhat tolerant of urban pollution. This species is not originally from North America.