Fatsia Japonica - Japanese Aralia
Overview
Fatsia japonica, commonly known as Japanese Aralia or False Castor Oil Plant, is a magnificent evergreen shrub that brings bold, tropical-style foliage to British gardens. This architectural plant is renowned for its enormous, glossy, hand-shaped leaves that create dramatic focal points and provide year-round structure, making it an invaluable addition to gardens seeking exotic appeal with reliable hardiness.
Key Features
Spectacular Foliage: Produces enormous, glossy dark green leaves up to 40cm across, each distinctively lobed into 7-11 finger-like sections that create stunning architectural impact.
Evergreen Structure: Maintains its impressive foliage throughout the year, providing constant visual interest and tropical atmosphere even during winter months.
Dramatic Size: Develops into a substantial shrub reaching 2-4 metres in height and spread, creating impressive presence in larger garden spaces.
Unique Flowering: Produces striking clusters of creamy-white spherical flowers in autumn, followed by small black berries that add seasonal interest.
Growing Conditions
Sunlight: Thrives in partial to full shade, making it perfect for difficult shady spots where many other plants struggle to perform well.
Soil Requirements: Prefers moist, well-draining soil enriched with organic matter, though tolerates a wide range of soil types including clay and sandy soils.
Hardiness: Fully hardy in most of the UK, withstanding temperatures down to -15°C, though young plants benefit from protection in their first winter.
Water Needs: Requires consistent moisture, particularly during dry spells, as the large leaves lose water rapidly and may wilt without adequate hydration.
Planting and Care
When to Plant: Best planted in spring or early autumn when soil conditions are favourable and plants have time to establish before extreme weather.
Spacing: Allow 2-3 metres between plants or from other large shrubs, giving adequate space for the plant to develop its full, impressive form.
Feeding: Benefits from annual spring feeding with a balanced fertiliser or well-rotted compost to support the production of those magnificent large leaves.
Mulching: Apply a thick mulch around the base to retain moisture and protect the root system, particularly important for maintaining leaf quality.
Garden Uses
Architectural Focal Points: Creates stunning specimen plants in key positions where the dramatic foliage can be fully appreciated and admired.
Shady Borders: Provides bold structure and tropical atmosphere in partially shaded areas where many flowering plants fail to thrive.
Courtyard Gardens: Perfect for enclosed spaces and urban gardens where its exotic appearance creates intimate, jungle-like atmospheres.
Woodland Gardens: Naturalises beautifully in woodland settings, providing contrast with ferns and other fine-textured shade plants.
Seasonal Interest
Spring: Produces fresh new growth with particularly glossy, vibrant leaves that unfurl dramatically from tight buds.
Summer: Reaches peak foliage impact with fully developed leaves creating maximum tropical effect and cooling shade.
Autumn: Develops spectacular creamy-white flower clusters arranged in globe-shaped umbels that attract late-season pollinators.
Winter: Maintains structural presence with evergreen foliage, though leaves may appear slightly less glossy during coldest periods.
Maintenance Requirements
Pruning: Minimal pruning required, though damaged or frost-affected leaves can be removed in spring to maintain appearance.
Pest Management: Generally pest-free, though scale insects may occasionally appear and can be treated with horticultural oil or systemic treatments.
Winter Care: Protect from harsh winds which can damage the large leaves, and consider fleece protection for young plants in exposed positions.
Special Characteristics
Wildlife Value: The autumn flowers attract bees and other pollinators when few other plants are flowering, whilst the berries provide food for birds.
Air Purifying: Like many large-leaved houseplants, Fatsia helps purify air when grown in conservatories or large indoor spaces.
Tolerance Levels: Exceptionally tolerant of pollution, salt spray, and urban conditions, making it excellent for city gardens and coastal areas.
Growth and Development
Growth Rate: Moderate growth rate, typically adding 30-45cm per year under good conditions until reaching mature size.
Ultimate Size: Reaches 2-4 metres in height and similar spread after 10-15 years, though can be maintained smaller with occasional pruning.
Habit: Develops multiple stems from the base, creating a full, bushy appearance with an upright to slightly spreading growth pattern.
Design Applications
Tropical Themes: Essential for creating exotic, jungle-style gardens combined with bamboos, tree ferns, and other architectural plants.
Contemporary Gardens: Provides bold, sculptural elements perfect for modern garden designs emphasising form and texture over colour.
Traditional Settings: Adds Victorian-era exotic charm to period gardens, evoking the plant-hunting era of the 19th century.
Container Growing
Large Containers: Suitable for very large pots or planters, though requires consistent watering and feeding to maintain quality.
Conservatories: Excellent for unheated conservatories and large indoor spaces where it can provide year-round tropical atmosphere.
Patio Plants: Creates dramatic focal points on patios and terraces, though containers must be substantial enough to support the mature plant.
Companion Planting
Textural Contrasts: Combines beautifully with fine-textured plants like ferns, astilbe, and ornamental grasses that emphasise its bold foliage.
Shade Gardens: Partners well with hostas, heuchera, and other shade-lovers, creating layered plantings with varying leaf sizes and textures.
Exotic Combinations: Works perfectly with bamboos, tree ferns, and palms to create convincing tropical-style gardens in temperate climates.
Why Choose Fatsia Japonica?
This remarkable plant offers unparalleled architectural impact combined with excellent reliability and low maintenance requirements. Its ability to thrive in shade makes it invaluable for difficult garden areas, whilst its exotic appearance allows gardeners to create tropical-style gardens without the need for tender plants.
The combination of year-round structure, dramatic foliage, and seasonal flowers makes Fatsia japonica a true multi-season performer that enhances any garden setting. Whether used as a specimen plant or part of a larger exotic planting scheme, it provides instant maturity and sophisticated appeal that few other hardy plants can match.
Buying Shrubs from Jacksons Nurseries
At Jacksons Nurseries we sell a variety of shrubs both evergreen and deciduous with a variety of flowering times throughout the year. At certain times of the year our shrubs you buy from us may not look like the images shown on our website when deciduous leaves have fallen, the shrub has finished flowering or has been trimmed back.
Some leaves on evergreen shrubs can be damaged in winter by frost or harsh winds but in spring new leaves will readily replace those damaged. This is quite normal on many evergreen varieties and is preferable to plants grown with excessive protection that show cold shock once planted out and establish less satisfactory initially.
Availability: Stock availability figures are provided as a guide only. There is a delay between orders being placed and the plants being gathered by our pulling team. During this time it may be possible for a member of the public to purchase these plants from our Garden Centre, while this is rare it is a possibility and we will notify you of any problems as soon as possible. This figure may also include plants that have not yet be flagged as unsaleable.
Pre-order: Pre-order times are given as a guide only and may vary dependent on the growing season. Orders containing Pre-ordered products will be shipped as a single order when all items become available. Large orders may be part shipped, please contact us on 01782 502741 or email sales@jacksonsnurseries.co.uk.
* Please Note: Shrubs in 20 litre pots and above might require a pallet delivery starting at £79.99 per pallet. Depending on the exact pot size and height it may be possible to get approximately 5 plants per pallet at no extra cost. The maximum height we can dispatch on a pallet is 2.0m, this includes the height of the pallet and pot.
Shrubs are deciduous or evergreen woody plants, and often provide fragrant flowers, berries and foliage. They are good for structural framework, and they can provide a wonderful shelter and food source for wildlife.
Planting and Conditions
Container grown shrubs can be grown at any time of year. It is a little known fact that shrubs planted in the autumn and winter will be easier to look after than those planted in the spring and summer, because they will have time to establish and become hardy in the cooler months.
Plant the shrub at the same depth as it was in its original pot. Planting too deeply can result in root and stem rot.
One of the biggest causes of death in new shrubs is drought stress, so keep it well watered until it’s established.
Make sure you loosen the soil prior to planting. Most shrubs are tolerant of most soil types as long as it is fairly well draining.
Most shrubs will grow happily in containers, but they will be much more demanding on feeding and watering than shrubs in the ground would be. They will also need potting on every couple of years so that they don’t suffocate or become stunted in their pot.
Aftercare and Pruning
Once established, shrubs generally do not require much water. However, at first they need careful, frequent watering and should not be left to dry out.
Shrubs in the ground are generally not demanding and in most cases, annual feeding with general purpose fertilizer will suffice. Shrubs in containers may need more feeding; usually from early spring until late summer.
Shrubs also benefit from mulching in order to supress weeds, conserve moisture and provide vital nutrients. Mulch also greatly improves soil conditions. Shrubs can be mulched in late winter, after fertiliser has been applied, but it can be mulched through autumn to late spring as long as the ground is damp.
All shrubs benefit from dead-heading once spent flowers become apparent. Rhododendrons and Lilac especially benefit from the removal of dead flowers.
Some shrubs may show signs of reverted growth or ‘sporting’. This is where random shoots of different leaves associated with the plant’s parentage begin to appear. Most commonly this is where plants with variegated leaves sprout pure green growths instead of variegated ones.
To control reversion, remove reverted shoots promptly to discourage them. Reverted shoots are usually much more vigorous than the variegated ones, and thus should be completely pruned out and cut back into wood containing variegated foliage.
Potential Issues
Although shrubs are usually very robust garden plants, they can sometimes start to decline with no apparent or obvious reason.
This will start with browning leaves, which could indicate plant stress due to lack of water or waterlogging, an establishment failure or, in the worst case scenario, honey fungus. Another cause of leaf browning is a high salt content in the soil. This could be a natural occurrence, especially if you live near the ocean, or it could be from over fertilisation.
To remedy a high salt content, cut back on fertiliser and step up your watering regime for the next few weeks. If you live by the ocean, this will be harder to remedy—but stepping up your watering will help to wash some of the salt away all the same.
No posts found
| Size | Availability | Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
In stock
|
£24.99 | ||
|
|
In stock
|
£12.99 |