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Fragrant Plants

Osmanthus root system

10 years ago

I'm considering planting Osmanthus (the shorter 8 foot variety) about 15 feet from my house. But I'm concerned about the aggressive root system that I've read osmanthus can have. My house has the main plumbing line running directly under where I'm considering planting the osmanthus. The plumbing line is about 4 feet below soil line. Any advice about whether or not I should plant osmanthus? I'm looking for some sort of 6-10 foot tree for the sunset 22/ 23 area in southern california.

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Comments (5)

ocelaris
10 years ago
Are you talking about Osmanthus Heterophyllus when you say "the shorter 8 foot variety" ? i.e. the more holly like leaf variety? I'm not aware of any Osmanthus Fragrans that naturally is 8' tall, except that they're slow growing and will pass through that range at some point and continue upwards. Most Osmanthus Fragrans will get taller eventually if they're happy.

I would be suprised if a moderately small tree would be able to get 4' straight down, IMO people over estimate how far roots go down and out. Most of the tree roots are in the top 2 feet of soil, and extend 1.5-4x the width of the canopy. But it also depends on your soil, in So Cal you might have a looser soil structure, but I would be suprised if it extended that far south.

On the other hand after a ruptured 1950s water pipe that cost us 10k a few years ago in the old house, I would never plant anything but a small shrub over our water main.

If you're looking to stay within that 8' boundary, I would look at small shrubs over a small tree... i.e. Osmanthus is going to get taller than that unless you keep it pruned (which nobody ever does well, google "Plant Amnesty" they have a bunch of good videos on pruning). Most large shrubs will be around that size. Do you need/want evergreen foliage? If you're looking at 8' then the heterophyllus will be closer to what you want.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tree Root Myths
gardenweb88
Original Author
10 years ago
I was looking at Osmanthus fragrans 'Fudingzhu' which I read somewhere grew to the 8 foot range. I was hoping for a tree because I needed something that wouldn't be so dense as to obstruct viewing of the area past the tree. But I'm open to a shrub, if I can only find the right drought tolerant evergreen shrub that either has an airy interior or can be pruned to such.
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ocelaris
10 years ago
The Nurcar website mentions he "saw" 8 foot Osmanthus Fragrants "Fodzingzhu" but not that they topped out at that. I believe it's about the same size as any other Osmanthus Fragrans which gets between 10-30 feet over it's life... Just google search "Osmanthus Fragrans" and look at the images, there are trees that are gigantic! Now it may take a very long time to get there, but plan on long term. Also it's pretty dense, not sure where you saw it was "see through" but I'm not sure this is the plant you want if you want to see through it. A Camellia would be very pretty, evergreen, open and airey, and they won't get much over the 8' height.

You didn't mention moisture, sunlight or wind exposure, which are fairly important.
gardenweb88
Original Author
10 years ago
Here's a page from Clemson that lists some varieties as topping out at less than 10 feet. I'm not sure how easily available those shorter varieties are.
http://www.clemson.edu/extension/hgic/plants/landscape/shrubs/hgic1083.html

The spot I'm planting it on is full sun with little wind exposure. The area is packed clay type soil that's kept fairly moist. Junipers and Pines have been growing on the property with little or no watering.
Terry Wang
10 months ago
Useful fact sheet: https://hort.ifas.ufl.edu/database/documents/pdf/tree_fact_sheets/osmfraa.pdf

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