Louis Edmunds manzanita - Inland Valley Garden Planner

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Description

Louis Edmunds manzanita grows into a tall evergreen shrub with an upright branching habit, 8-10 ft. tall and 6-8 ft. wide. Foliage is comprised of 1" large pale green leaves; late winter flowers are light pink and attract hummingbirds. It's distinctive bark is very dark purple.

The Louis Edmunds manzanita is a popular landscape cultivar selected from a stand of Arctostaphylos bakeri growing in Sonoma County. The combination of dark bark color and light foliage make it a highly attractive shrub for background and specimen uses, particularly when pruned to reveal its structure. When grown in the Inland Empire, it needs protection from hot afternoon sun and careful summer watering. It grows well with toyon, sugar bush, buckwheats, coast live oak and other California natives.

Water Needs

The Louis Edmunds manzanita is well adapted to normal winter rains and periodic summer irrigation. Established plants grow well with periodic deep irrigation in the summer. Manzanitas are vulnerable to disease problems when summer irrigation produces moist soil and leaf litter conditions that enable active fungi and bacteria growth.

The chart shown below provides a recommended baseline guide to the monthly irrigation schedule and volume of supplemental water needed to maintain healthy growth throughout the average year. It should be noted there are several months marked by an asterisk (*) when winter rains can provide sufficient moisture and irrigation is not needed. The high and low range of moisture indicates it can grow with varying amounts of water; it is desirable to have leaf litter and the top layer of soil beneath the stems to dry out between irrigation applications.

Irrigation Schedule and Graph

Low Water Use Plants

Irrigation Schedule 1

	Jan*	Feb*	Mar*	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov*	Dec*
Runs per Month	0x to 2x	0x to 2x	0x to 2x	1x	1x	1x	1x	1x	1x	1x	0x to 2x	0x to 2x
Inches per Run	1"	1"	1"	1"	1"	1"	1"	1"	1"	1"	1"	1"

Inches per Month	0" to 2"	0" to 2"	0" to 2"	1"	1"	1"	1"	1"	1"	1"	0" to 2"	0" to 2"

Range of supplemental summer water: 7"
Range of supplemental winter water: 0"-10"

0"-2"

Jan*

Feb*

Mar*

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov*

Dec*

For more information on how to use this Irrigation Schedule and Graph, follow this link.

For information how to calculate your irrigation system’s schedule and precipitation rate, please follow this link.

Plant Properties

Plant Type: Shrub, Native
Foliage Character: Evergreen
Habit: Upright, Open, Low-branching, Graceful
Growth Rate: Slow
Height: 8 ft. - 10 ft.
Width: 6 ft. - 8 ft.
Water Needs: Low 1
Foliage Color: Pale green
Flower Color: Pink
Flower Season: Winter
Soil Adaptations: Well-draining soil, Acidic soil
Exposure Adaptations: Morning sun, Partial sun
Function: Wildlife value, Specimen, Hummingbird plant, California native

Maintenance

In general Manzanitas do not need much pruning. Carefully select the right species or cultivar for a fully mature size that fits your space well. Carefully thin or "skirt up" manzanitas to expose beautiful branches in November, after risk of sunburn from long summer days has passed (1). Manzanitas occasionally get bright red growths on the edges of leaves. This is manzanita leaf gall aphid, a small insect that causes the plant to create this reaction. It is generally not threatening in healthy plants, but can spread. Growth affected by leaf gall aphid may be pruned out after winter-spring flowering (4).

References