Florida Gallberry Bushes

Growth Habit

• Gallberry grows slowly, an arborist’s term for shrubs or trees that grow less than 12 inches a year. It grows from tuberous underground rhizomes into a rounded form from 6 to 8 feet high with a spread of 8 to 10 feet, becoming leggy as it gets taller. This prevents it from being usefully grown as a hedge. Gallberry grows sprouts or suckers from its rhizhomes and the base of its stems. You can grow it in a wide range soils from sand or loam to clay and from acidic to slightly alkaline. Since it grows naturally in bogs and around bays, gallberry grows well in wet sites.

Description

• Galberry has smooth, greenish black to dark gray stems. Its 1- to-2-inch-long leaves are 1/3- to 1/2-inch wide, dark green and shiny on top and dull, light green on the bottom. It bears tiny white flowers in late spring; female flowers are single; male flowers grow in clusters. These are followed by 1/3-inch-wide green berries that ripen and turn black in the fall. There are gallberry cultivars that yield white berries.

Uses

• Gallberry is good for shrubbery around building foundations or planted as borders. It is especially appropriate for natural-appearing landscapes and to enhance habitats for wildlife. Bees feeding on gallberry flowers yield a flavorful honey. Numerous birds eat its berries and rabbits, white-tailed deer and even black bears browse on its leaves. If you live in the colder part of its range, you can substitute it for the less cold-tolerant Japanese holly (Ilex crenata) in USDA zones 6 to 8.

Propagation

• You can grow gallberry from seed by removing the pulp from the berry and planting the seeds 1/8 inch deep in rich soil and keeping them moist. The problem is that gallberry seeds may take two to three years to germinate and then you have to pot the seedlings and keep them in half-shade for two to three years before you move them to their permanent location. You can propagate it easily by taking cuttings from its stem, roots or suckers. You can also cut back the top, prune the roots on one side and wait a year before digging up and replanting the pruned roots.