And you live where? What zone? Do you get snow in winter?

and how much fert are you giving them ... how long ago planted ... did you amend the soil ... are they near an over-ferted lawn .... etc ...

and how about a pic ...

ken

Wax myrtles are weak-wooded. I would probably not fertilize them at all. You want them growing as hard as possible going into winter. Fortunately you don't have all that much snow. You are a milder zone 7 than we are because you have periodic winter warm-ups. They should do really well for you! But they are vigorous and without pruning will soon grow into small trees, if that is what you want. Otherwise you'll need to prune several times a year to control height and create density.

The lawn is thin and pale as though if anything it needs more fertilizer. Or is having some other issue. Wax myrtles are not the type of shrub that should need a lot of fertilizer on most sites - but this kind of thing varies which each individual situation. And as you have seen already the shrub is a much larger- and more vigorously growing kind than will fit in the space you have defined with your edging.

Dave,

Thanks. Yes, I have seen instances of these breaking in severe weather. I planned to selectively prune them to stay just tall enough to block our view of the house next door, and keep the shrubby form.

Do I take it that you don't recommend staking for added stability? I'd rather not personally but would in order to try keeping them and if, of course, it would help.

Embothrium,

Our grass is ok. It was just mowed 2 days ago and our neighbor mows each week. (He's mowing right now again.) With our current drought the grass tends to look brown. The wax myrtle can drape over my edging and as I mentioned I plan to prune regularly to keep them in bounds. Actually I'm one of those oddballs who enjoy pruning duties!

possibly a sun issue. they are described as being tolerant of less than full sun but, in my observations, the growth pattern is not as stout and is more flimsy if they don't receive a lot of direct sun. I have seen them growing as understory shrubs under pine canopy and the form is open and sparse. others growing in full sun (sometimes used in parking lot islands here) are densely branched with tight foliage coverage. maybe prune frequently as dave recommends and bring them upwards over time. yours don't look bad at all to me but I like their natural form.

Hi Jeff,

That is probably a significant factor. Thanks for pointing that out to me. If you look at the second pic you see a narrow line of shade against the house. In fall and winter as the sun goes south to the other side of the house that shade widens to cover the wax myrtles and a lot of our turf too. So yes, for 6 months or thereabouts these are in shade.

(I even have plenty of my cherished velvety moss along the footpath that I wish I had much more of.)

I also noted that they are only semi-evergreen in my zone, losing plenty of leaves to the cold. I'm not fond of that as this -- along with the flopping -- further opens my privacy screen.

Going back to the whys of picking wax myrtles might be helpful. Tolerance of wet conditions. The area you see in between our homes is a gully, not steep enough to see with the turf there but graded to drain rainwater. During wet conditions it is thoroughly soggy. Up a ways, where I sited the shrubs, it is drier though still prone to being consistently moist.

Before planting I had read wax myrtles tolerate wet conditions and that they have quite well. But unfortunately it doesn't mean they similarly tolerate half a year of shade and unintended fertilizer.

Having said all that I do think I will follow the advice to prune for strength and take another look at how they've done next year. I also like their loose, natural form. I'd just like more density and overall sturdiness.

Thank you!

But in the half year of shade during the cold season, they are not actively growing, so you should be fine!

Just keep pruning them. You could remove 1/3 to 1/2 of that growth to tighten them up. You are not going to have the luxury of enjoying their natural form in that tight of a growing situation. They should get nice and dense with pruning.

Across from my in-laws in Southern VA, there was a row of town homes that had these all pruned into tight forms. The landscaping crew pruned them several times a year and they looked great! Just keep in mind that that is what you will be doing as well... 2 to 3 x a year.

I have a problem area that is quite wet and planted one of these, but only wanted one a specimen. I limbed it up and periodically pruned it into a sort of loose umbrella shape and it looked great for a while. Unfortunately this is what happened after one ice storm. I don't know whether this was because I had limbed it up. If I had drastically pruned it again after first frost, I probably could have saved it.

Yaupon holly also takes shearing well, handles wet conditions, and may be a bit stronger-wooded.

Here is a pic of Wax Myrtle at the Natl Herb Garden. Throughout the season this is an excellent, thick background screen, easily 8' tall. This pic was taken in the winter. As you can see they hack back about half of the stems all the way. It quickly rebounds and thickens up in the spring. My only reservation about this is that it is unsightly for 3 for 4 months of the year.

Dave,

That is a shame! Sorry that happened to yours. I would have cried. We want to try things and sometimes it just doesn't work.

I have actually never seen a wax myrtle as a standard but I'm sure it was nice looking, maybe almost like a Japanese maple? I like sculpted shrubs but always seem to keep mine natural.

What I ultimately need is about 8-10' height to effectively block the view of my neighbors windows. And I like pruning. I have a good hand saw and know how to use it. :^)

We have many Yaupon hollies in the shopping centers here. They are umbrella shaped also I believe. I have not seen them at the nurseries. Will keep those in mind in case. Hollies are just great all around plants.

Do you know if they can handle 6 months of shade?

Hi Sam,

Great pic! I can absolutely see that working. And I need that 8' and more if possible. This is thinning and not heading back, which is what I have been doing. I will try thinning instead.

Do they do the pruning in fall? What zone is the Herb Garden is? Just curious.

I would prefer year round evergreen screening but I can deal with some gaps like that in winter. Right now my neighbors have several deader-than-doornails shrubs for us to gaze upon, so I suppose they can have some wax myrtle gaps from us.

Thank you both for offering your ideas.

Green streaks in a lawn is typically uneven fertilizer application.

Yes, these can handle winter shade for sure. They may even remain more foliated in winter shade than in winter sun.

They will do most of their growing in summer when they have sun. In winter they do not grow. It will not take long for them to reach 8 feet because they grow so quickly. I would probably prune in December after they are dormant just to tidy them up a bit. Or you can leave them until late winter. The tidy up once a month or so in summer.

Hi Dave, could you please clarify? Did you mean that the Yaupon holly could take shade? That's what I was asking but not sure I was clear.

Oh, yes, most any BLE (broad-leafed evergreen) can take winter shade. They do most of their growing in summer when they should have sun - at least in zone 7.... If you are concerned about density, that is.