Chicago Lustre arrowwood

Sun

Full sun to partial shade; flowering, fruiting and autumn colour are usually strongest in sun.

Water

Keep evenly moist while establishing. Once established, water during prolonged dry spells; it tolerates occasional wet soil better than prolonged drought.

Soil

Adaptable to clay, loam and sandy soils, including moderately alkaline soil. Best in moist soil that does not remain permanently waterlogged.

Height

10-15 ft (3-4.6 m)

Spread

10-15 ft (3-4.6 m)

Flowers

Late spring to early summer; small creamy-white flowers in flat-topped clusters.

Foliage

Glossy, dark green, oval leaves with prominent veins and toothed edges; autumn colour varies from yellow to burgundy or reddish purple.

Growth

Moderate to fast once established.

Care needed

Low

• Pollinators
• Cold hardy
• Wildlife
• Low allergen

Northern hemisphere months. In Australia, shift them by six.

Difficulty

Easy

Toughness

Fairly tough

Pick your zone, country, light and whether you have pets.

1. Planting day

   1.6 ft (0.5 m)

2. After 1 year

   4 ft (1.3 m)

3. After 2 years

   7 ft (2.2 m)

4. After 3 years

   10 ft (3 m)

5. After 5 years

   12 ft (3.8 m)

   full size

About 4 years to full size.

From a typical nursery size, at an average rate for this kind of plant. A rule of thumb, not a forecast.

Cats and dogs

Safe

Native to

the US

In the garden

Spreads vigorously: plan to contain it.

Growth rate

Fast

• Water deeply through the first growing season, checking soil moisture during hot or windy weather.
• Spread 2-3 in (5-8 cm) of organic mulch over the root area, keeping it clear of the stems.
• Plant a different arrowwood cultivar with overlapping flowering nearby if you want reliable berries; another Chicago Lustre is the same clone.
• Apply compost in spring; use fertiliser only if growth is poor or a soil test indicates a deficiency.
• Remove unwanted basal suckers if you need to keep the shrub within its allotted space.

Pruning. Prune immediately after flowering, shortening wayward shoots and removing a few of the oldest stems at ground level when renewal is needed. Avoid shearing, which spoils the natural shape, and remember that removing flowered shoots also removes potential berries.

Late winter

Inspect young twigs for viburnum leaf beetle egg scars; prune out affected tips before eggs hatch.

Spring

Plant while soil is workable, water thoroughly and replenish mulch.

Late spring

Check new leaves for beetle larvae and inspect nearby arrowwoods for overlapping bloom.

Early summer

Prune after flowering only where shaping or renewal is needed.

Summer

Water during extended dry spells and remove unwanted suckers.

Autumn

Leave berries for birds and plant new shrubs while soil remains moist and workable.

• Plant as an informal boundary hedge where its full mature width can be accommodated.
• Use behind perennial borders as a dense green backdrop, with flowers and berries adding seasonal interest.
• Combine with dogwoods, serviceberries and woodland perennials along a sunny woodland edge.
• Group genetically different arrowwoods in a wildlife planting to improve fruit production and provide cover.

Garden styles it suits: Woodland, Wildlife garden, Native hedgerow, Traditional, Low-maintenance and Autumn colour.

Plant it with: Serviceberry, Red-twig dogwood, Oakleaf hydrangea, Virginia sweetspire, Wild geranium and Pennsylvania sedge.

Wildlife: Flowers attract bees and other small pollinating insects. Birds eat the berries, and the dense branching provides shelter and nesting cover; in its native eastern North American range, arrowwood also supports native caterpillars.

• Viburnum leaf beetle can severely skeletonise leaves, especially in parts of North America. Remove egg-bearing twigs in winter and hand-pick larvae early; where damage is serious, use a locally approved treatment labelled for the pest.
• Few or no berries usually means poor cross-pollination, shade or pruning that removed flowers. Add a genetically different arrowwood with overlapping bloom and prune only when necessary.
• Powdery mildew can affect crowded or stressed plants. Improve airflow, water the root area during drought and avoid excessive nitrogen feeding.
• Leaf spots may develop in humid conditions. Clear fallen diseased leaves and avoid repeatedly wetting the foliage when watering.

Not known to be toxic to cats, dogs or horses. Serious poisoning in people is not generally associated with this shrub, but the berries are not a food crop and eating them or other plant parts may cause stomach upset.

• Linden viburnum (Viburnum dilatatum)

  Usually has noticeably hairy leaves and young stems, with red rather than blue-black ripe berries.

• Smooth witherod (Viburnum nudum)

  Has smoother, largely untoothed leaf edges; its fruit clusters often show pink and blue berries together as they ripen.

• Doublefile viburnum (Viburnum plicatum f. tomentosum)

  Has strongly layered horizontal branches and flower clusters arranged in paired rows, usually with a border of larger sterile white florets.

Dentatum means toothed, referring to the leaf edges, while arrowwood recalls the use of its straight shoots for arrow shafts by Indigenous peoples of eastern North America.

Propagation. Root softwood cuttings in late spring or early summer under humid conditions, or layer a low branch. Seed-grown plants will not reliably retain the cultivar's characteristics.

Accepted botanical name

Viburnum dentatum

In the US and Canada

Native in the lower 48 states.

Native range

Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey and Ohio.

Measured

Average height 460 cm.

Sources: GBIF (CC BY 4.0), USDA PLANTS and Trefle (CC BY 4.0). The care and design notes are LandscapeGPT's own.