Japanese Snowball Viburnum

Viburnum plicatum

Plant Details

USDA Plant Hardiness Zones: 5a-8b Find Your Zone

Shrub Type: Deciduous Flowering Shrub

Height at Maturity: 8-15′

Width at Maturity: 8-15′

Suggested Spacing: 8 feet for hedge; 20 feet or more for space between plants

Growth Habit / Form: Open, Rounded

Growth Rate: Moderate to Fast

Flower Color: White

Flower Size: 3″ size clusters of small flowers

Flowering Period: Mid to Late Spring

Flower Type: Single flowers in 3″ wide snowball like clusters

Fragrant Flowers: No

Foliage Color: Medium to Dark Green; Burgundy-Red in Fall

Fragrant Foliage: No

Berries:

Berry Color:

Sun Needs: Full to Mostly Sun, Morning Sun With Afternoon Shade, Morning Shade with Afternoon Sun

Water Needs: Average, Low when established

Soil Type: Clay, Loam, Sandy, Silty

Soil Moisture / Drainage: Well Drained Moist to Dry when established

Soil pH: 5.5 – 7.5 (Acid to Slightly Acid)

Maintenance / Care: Low

Attracts: Butterflies, Visual Attention

Resistances: Deer, Disease, Drought, Heat, Insect

Description

Japanese Snowball Viburnum is a strikingly beautiful large flowering shrub featuring abundant showy ball-shaped clusters of white flowers in spring and attractive, serrated, pointed dark green leaves that turn to burgundy-red in Fall. Reaching 10 to 15 feet in height and width, it can be grown as a large shrub or lower branches removed to form an attractive and colorful small specimen tree.

Landscape & Garden Uses

With an upright habit and rounded form 8 to 15 feet tall and wide depending on pruning, the Japanese Snowball Viburnum is ideal for use as a specimen or in groupings in landscape and flowering shrub borders and sunny to partially shade woodland borders. As this Viburnum grows taller, lower branches can be removed to form a highly attractive small tree useful as a focal point specimen in landscape borders or home foundation plantings. A fine addition to white theme gardens, cut flower gardens, cottage gardens, and the Xeriscape (low water needs).

Suggested Spacing: 8 feet apart for hedge; 20 feet or more apart for space between plants

Growing Preferences

Japanese Snowball Viburnum is very easy to grow in moist but well drained soil of average fertility and full sun to part shade. We suggest 5 hours or more of direct sunlight for best flowering. It prefers a loamy soil so amend heavy clay or poor soils with compost, bagged top soil or other organic matter. As with so many other ornamental plants, it does not like constantly soggy or wet conditions. Very drought tolerant when established and we’ve seen no serious pest or disease problems. Deer haven’t touched it in our gardens. Responds very well to pruning for shaping, size control and tree forming. Prune as needed immediately after flowering.

Helpful Articles

Click on the link below to find helpful advice from our experts on how to plant and care for Viburnums.

How To Plant And Care For Viburnum Plants

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Questions? Contact Us

I ordered the Japanese Snowball bush and I was surprised about the size, about two feet tall. Shipping was quick and the plant was packaged well. Thank you——————————————We are so glad you are pleased and we hope you enjoy it for years to come! Thanks for the kind words and great review! 🙂 Beth Steele | WBG