Caring for Euonymus Fortunei

Site Needs

• Wintercreeper tolerates both full, all-day sunlight or partial shade, although best foliage color usually occurs when the plants receive some afternoon shade. It tolerates a range of soil pH and types, thriving in most types of soil as long as the site isn't waterlogged or prone to standing water. You can plant wintercreeper in areas with compacted soil or soil that dries out quickly. It doesn't need fertile soil to grow well so the site doesn't usually need to be amended before you plant.

Basic Care

• Watering is the main need for a healthy wintercreeper plant. During dry weather, it benefits from weekly irrigation that provides about 1 inch of water. During rainy periods, the plant rarely needs water if the soil remains moist. Its creeping habit also means it doesn't require mulch since it is effectively self-mulching. Wintercreeper doesn't require fertilization. The plant grows quickly and fertilization only results in an increased growth rate and necessitates more frequent pruning.

Pruning and Training

• Regular pruning is the main care requirement with wintercreeper. It can become invasive and quickly outgrow its bed if you don't shear back the stems regularly throughout the summer growing period. In spring, you can shear the wintercreeper back to within 3 to 6 inches of the base of the plants to keep it compact and encourage lush foliage growth. Rinse the shears in a solution of one part bleach and nine parts water before you prune, and dip the shears in the solution after each cut to minimize the spread of disease. Wintercreeper usually spreads along the ground, but it will climb walls, trees or trellises if you plant it around the base of the structure.

Problems

• Scale insects can plague wintercreeper. These appear as a white growth on leaves and stems, although in spring they may crawl over the leaf surfaces. Affected plants also develop yellow spotting. Spraying the insects with a ready-to-use horticultural oil spray in early spring before new growth begins, then again in spring if scale insects are crawling on the foliage, destroys these pests. Wintercreepeer may also suffer from fungal diseases or crown gall, which results in corky growth and plant dieback. Using clean tools and pruning out infected or dead portions of the plant helps manage these diseases.