Spotted laurel is often seen in shrubberies on the grounds of hospitals, churches and other public buildings, usually tucked away in corners and pretty much forgotten.
But it is a very useful plant and has a role to play during the dull months as it provides handsome foliage, a touch of colour and sometimes bright red berries.
Aucuba had its heyday towards the end of the nineteenth century when there was a vogue for shrubs such as laurels and hollies that stayed green in winter and provided relatively sombre greenery all year round.
Aucuba slotted in nicely and acquired the name of spotted laurel, although it is not related to any form of laurel, it being an evergreen member of the dogwood family.
But its leaves are decidedly laurel-like in size and shape, though somewhat more pointed than the popular common laurel used as hedging.
Japanese origins
Spotted laurel is Aucuba japonica and it originated in Japan and other parts of East Asia. It occurs naturally in a wide range of habitats, including woodland, open scrub and even quite exposed places.
Its ability to grow in different habitats signals that it can be used in varied positions in the garden.
The original species is plain green without the yellow spots that give the plant its common name. The plain green kind is not much grown because it is relatively plain but it has good green glistening foliage year-round and it is tougher than the spotted kinds.
It makes a fine green hedge that is easily kept to a smallish size, though it is relatively expensive to plant.
Aucuba plants are either male or female, the latter often carrying clusters of bright red berries that follow small purple flowers, but berrying is really a bonus as the primary use of the plant is for foliage effect.
To get berries, a male plant must be grown nearby as it is not reliable to have other aucubas as pollinators growing in neighbouring gardens, as is the case often with skimmia and holly, both of which also need a male pollinator. Most of the very decorative varieties of aucuba are female.
Varieties
‘Crotonifolia’ is popular with yellow-speckled leaves. ‘Gold Dust’ is also yellow-speckled, even more so than ‘Crotonifolia’.
‘Picturata’ has a heavy marking of yellow at the centre of the leaves, but the foliage has a tendency to revert to the original green – although this is easily pruned out when noticed.
‘Sulphurea Marginata’ has a yellow marking at the edge of the leaves.
‘Rozannie’ is a small-growing, relatively compact variety with green leaves and carries both male and female flowers.
Any of the aucubas can be grown as single plants or in small groups in bigger gardens. They are valuable for leading some bulk to a bed or border during the leafless months and they merge into the background when the deciduous trees and shrubs leaf-up.
Aucuba is best seen as a filler of shady corners and as a background shrub. It can be grown in pots too.
It is able to cope with a considerable degree of shade and stands up well to air pollution and even sea breezes.
The spotted kinds, especially those heavily marked with yellow, can be inclined to burn at the tips in too much direct sunshine, but heavy shade reduces spotting and the intensity of the colour. So, a balance of light and shade is best.
Aucuba is long-lived and easy to grow. It thrives in ordinary soil, coping well even in the dry soil under trees, which very few plants can cope with.
But it does not like to be wet at the roots, which can cause severe die-back and blackening of foliage and may even kill the whole plant.
Well-drained soil is essential and it can be planted from pots at any time but best in spring with watering a few times until new growth appears.
Winter-flowering pansies are such good flowers for colour in containers in winter and spring that it is a pity to see them damaged by leafspot disease.
This appears first as just a few small brown-grey spots with a darker edge, but soon the number of spots increase and cause older leaves, which are first affected, to shrivel and wither.
Eventually all the leaves can be affected to some extent and, with the reduced leaf area for photosynthesis, growth and flowering stops.
Winter-flowering pansies.
In fact, growth seems to go into reverse as the plant leaves shrivel up. Inspect new plants closely before buying to avoid getting the incipient disease.
Damp weather makes it worse and in some years it is more prevalent. There is no cure and affected plants can be removed.
Plants are less susceptible where there is a good airflow and the leaves can dry.