Check with your local extension office prior to planting to ensure that it’s ok to do so.Īlso, be careful about planting spindle bush if you have young children or pets. This fast-growing euonymus shrub, native to Europe, is highly weedy and invasive in some areas, including the Eastern part of the United States and Canada. If you notice aphids, spray them with insecticidal soap spray.ĭiseases are rarely a problem for healthy spindle bushes. If caterpillars are a problem during the blooming season, it’s easy to remove them by hand. Spread mulch around the plant after pruning.įeed your spindle bush every spring, using a balanced, general purpose fertilizer. Prune your spindle bush plant to the desired size and shape in spring. If possible, plant two shrubs in close proximity for more effective cross-pollination. Nearly any type of well-drained soil is fine. You may also plant the bush in dappled sunlight or partial shade, but too much shade will diminish the brilliant fall color. Preferably plant spindle bush in full sunlight.
Plant the seeds and allow them to develop indoors for at least a year before moving them outside. Gather spindle bush seeds in fall, then store them in a plastic bag filled with moist sand and compost until spring. You can also plant spindle bush seeds, although the seeds are notoriously slow to germinate. Place the pot in bright, indirect light and water often enough to keep the mixture moist but never saturated. Plant the cuttings in a mixture of peat moss and coarse sand. Propagate spindle bush by taking semi-ripe cuttings from a mature plant in late summer or early fall.
SPINDLE TREE HOW TO
Read on and learn how to grow spindle bushes. Spindle bush is hardy to USDA zones 3 through 8.
The dull green leaves turn yellow in fall, eventually morphing to yellow-green, and then finally an attractive shade of reddish-purple. The plant produces greenish-yellow flowers in spring, followed by pinkish-red fruit with orange-red seeds in autumn. What is a spindle bush? Also known as common spindle tree, spindle bush ( Euonymus europaeus) is an upright, deciduous shrub that becomes more rounded with maturity.