Sawtooth Japanese Aucuba

In warmer parts of the country there are often many evergreen trees, and as the garden matures and grows these throw increasingly more shade, so that dark corners, shady every day of the year, are common. It can be incredibly difficult to find plants that will survive in these ‘dead’ spaces, so we end up with empty areas, with nothing but dirt or mulch to look at. If you are familiar with this problem, and have tried different plants without success, we have the answer for you. The Sawtooth Aucuba is, honesty, the most shade-tolerant plant on the planet, and it will grow where nothing else will. It even stays bushy and dense, sending up new shoots from ground-level as it grows, while other ‘shade-loving’ shrubs only reach for the light, leaving the ground beneath them still bare and even more shady. As well as being incredibly tolerant of darkness, the Sawtooth Aucuba has attractive glossy leaves that are large and much more interesting than the over-planted cherry laurel. Plus, this plant carries huge crops of bright red berries in winter, brightening those dark corners even more. You have to grow it to believe how great this plant is, so say ‘goodbye’ to blank earth, and ‘hello’ to the Sawtooth Aucuba.

Growing the Sawtooth Aucuba

Size and Appearance

The Sawtooth Aucuba is an evergreen shrub that will be about 7 feet tall and wide within 10 years, and grow to 10 feet tall and wide in time. It forms a broad, bushy plant with many branches, or it can be trimmed into a form more like a multi-stem tree. The older branches are dark brown, with a smooth to slightly rough surface, and the young stems are green. The foliage is the big attraction with this shrub. The leaves are large, up to 10 inches long and 4 inches wide, with a smooth, glossy surface, a deep green color, and a pronounced sawtooth edge, with large ‘teeth’ along both edges. These are not sharp, and they give the plant a distinctive, almost tropical look.

The parent species of this plant is dioecious – it has separate male and female trees. The Sawtooth Aucuba is a female tree, and it flowers early, usually in March or April. The flowers are not showy, and hang in clusters from the base of the leaves, several flowers in each cluster, with small, purplish-white petals. If there is a male tree nearby to pollinate it, the flowers develop over summer into green berries, a half-inch across, which turn bright red in late fall. Birds don’t eat them so they stay for months, making a lovely show. This variety carries the heaviest crop of berries of any Aucuba.

Using the Sawtooth Aucuba in Your Garden

This plant is your answer to those shady places where nothing will grow. It brings great foliage and rich green to dark corners. It even out-performs the yellow-spotted aucubas for shade tolerance. Use it beneath evergreen trees, up against a dark wall, or as a hedge or screen in shady areas. It can be trimmed into a tight wall of green, or allowed to grow more naturally, when it will still be dense and bushy.

Hardiness

This is one of the hardiest types of aucuba, and it grows well in zone 6 if not planted in an exposed position. It thrives all through the warmer zones, from zone 7 to zone 10.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

In zones 6 and 7 you could grow this shrub with some morning sun, or winter sunshine, but it loves the shade so much it prefers at least some shade, and is perfectly happy in dark, full shade all day long, all year round. It grows in most garden soils, including poor soil, and it competes well with existing tree roots, after a bit of extra attention while it becomes established. It grows well in urban areas, tolerating construction soil and air pollution. Any well-drained soil will be fine, although we do recommend you enrich the soil with organic material when planting, and water regularly for the first couple of years.

Maintenance and Pruning

The Sawtooth Aucuba is normally free of pests and diseases and ignored by deer. Once established it is very drought tolerant, and it takes the salt air of coastal regions without burning. If you don’t feel like trimming, don’t, because it always stays bushy. If you want a neater look, and to keep the base full and green, trimming the upper parts narrower is easy to do in spring or early summer. Don’t use shears, as this will cut the leaves. Instead use pruners, and just cut back to the last couple of leaves on a stem. Even bare stems will usually re-sprout on established plants.

History and Origin of the Sawtooth Aucuba

The Japanese Aucuba, Aucuba japonica, can be found growing wild in the forests of Japan, China and Korea. The first plants were brought to England from Japan in 1783 and grown as a greenhouse plant at first. That first plant had leaves splashed with gold spots, and it is called ‘Variegata’, or the Gold Dust Aucuba, which is still a great plant to grow. It was widely grown during the Industrial Revolution, because it would tolerate the gloom, smog and smoky air of 19th century cities. There are many varieties, some brought from Japan and China, others developed in Europe and America, but they are often confused, and we know almost nothing about their origins. The Sawtooth Aucuba is officially called ‘Serratifolia’.

Buying the Sawtooth Aucuba at the Tree Center

If your garden is cursed with shade, the Sawtooth Aucuba is the blessing you need. This is the most shade-tolerant of all the varieties of Japanese aucuba, so it is in high demand. Order now while our supplies hold out, because they will soon be gone.