The older he gets, the more magnificent he is. Luma apiculataalso called Chilean myrtle, is attractive all year round, displaying small, dark green, shiny evergreen foliage. At the end of summer, it is covered with a myriad of pure white, fragrant flowers, followed, in autumn, by cute, edible black mini-berries. If their flavor is not very strong, they have their effect when scattered on a dessert, in a fruit salad, and even in a sauce to accompany a duck breast, for example…
Luma apiculata is reserved for gardens with drained soil and where the temperature does not drop below -10°.
Free or cut?
Although it can be grown in a free, bushy form, taller than it is wide, this plant of 4 and 7 meters lends itself perfectly to pruning, which gives it an airy silhouette, highlighting its splendid velvety wood. For an even more accentuated full fire on this bark, cloud pruning suits it well, the branches going almost naturally horizontally. Cloud pruning, inspired by Japanese gardens – wiped is the name given to these trees worked in the manner of bonsai – consists of retaining only the main structure, that is to say the main branches and forming trays at the ends. The silhouette becomes a sculpture, with a crown cut into several clouds of greenery arranged in an elegant and harmonious way. The natural habit of certain species predisposes them to this specific size. This myrtle is one of them.
The transparent waist also suits it perfectly. It tends to imitate nature. Look at the old trees: they are thinning out little by little, losing the branches from inside the crown, letting light and rainwater penetrate. Thus, a whole spontaneous flora settles under the branches. Prune the low and medium branches, so that the sun’s rays can pass through at certain times of the day, while magnifying their silhouette. It takes a lot of observation before removing the branches that hide the foliage, and highlighting those that are interesting. It is necessary to reduce the center, without reducing the crown, to maintain the span.
Its vegetation also makes it possible to make a topiary, to be prepared from a very young age. This art consists of sculpting plants with imagination and aesthetics. Animals, strange characters, but also columns, spirals, tunnels, wave hedges… It is at planting that you must start cutting, by cutting the plant back by a third so that it branches. The following year, pruning consists of a few shoots of the determined shape. Then, every year, for four or five years, in spring and fall, all that remains is to refine the appearance. Afterwards, maintenance pruning is done in spring and fall… for life!
If cutting is done in autumn or at the end of winter, avoiding extreme heat and frost, it is possible to correct the shape at any time. It is in isolation that this shrub takes on all its strength if it is shaped. Left free, it fits perfectly into a hedge or it makes a beautiful backdrop to a flower bed, standing out well among deciduous plants.