Ornamentalshrub ornamentalStraightforward

Osmanthus

Osmanthus × burkwoodii

A dense dark evergreen that is frequently mistaken for a small-leaved holly until it flowers, when it produces a mass of small white tubes with a scent close to jasmine. One of the best evergreen hedges for a garden of moderate size, and considerably better mannered than laurel.

Position: Full sun or Partial shade or Dappled shade
Water: low demand
Drainage: Free-draining, Moisture-retentive
Grows to: 250–350 cm × 200–300 cm
Hardiness: H5
Flowers: April and May
Difficulty: Straightforward

August

Nothing to do

No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.

Coming next month: plant.

Osmanthus’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

Activity	A	M	J	S	O
Plant	April.	May.		September.	October.
In flower	April.	May.
Prune		May.	June.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light: Full sun, Partial shade, Dappled shade
Frost: Very hardy
Hardiness rating: H5 (RHS)
Grows best at: 8–25 °C
Soil: Loam, Chalky, Clay, Sandy
Soil pH: 6–8
Drainage: Free-draining, Moisture-retentive
Water needs: low
Drought: good tolerance
Waterlogging: poor tolerance
Heat: good tolerance
Wind and exposure: good tolerance

Where these figures come from

LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus — position
Checked 2026-08-13
FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
Hardiness ratingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: RHS hardiness ratings
Checked 2026-08-13
Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus — temperature
Checked 2026-08-13
SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Osmanthus × burkwoodii — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

Soil	Verdict	Why
Heavy clay	Works, with one condition	Osmanthus will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Sandy	Prefers this soil	Sandy suits Osmanthus as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Sandy soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Chalky and alkaline	Prefers this soil	Chalky and alkaline suits Osmanthus as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Chalky soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Loam	Prefers this soil	Loam suits Osmanthus as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Silty	Prefers this soil	Silty suits Osmanthus as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 8, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Peaty and acid	Works, with one condition	Osmanthus will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rock	Prefers this soil	Shallow over rock suits Osmanthus as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Made ground and urban soil	Works, with one condition	Osmanthus will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. A plant that stays in the ground through winter with its roots in cold, saturated soil rots — which is what kills most of what fails on heavy ground, rather than the cold.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height: 250–350 cm
Mature spread: 200–300 cm
Rooting depth: 60 cm
Spacing: 75–150 cm apart

Where these figures come from

Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
SpacingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus — spacing
Checked 2026-08-13

Measured centre to centre. Plants set closer than this compete for light and water long before they look crowded, and the crowding cannot be undone once they are in.

Habit and ultimate size

What the plant becomes, rather than what it is when you buy it. The gap between the two is where most planting mistakes live.

Foliage: Evergreen
In a container: Good in a container long-term

Where these figures come from

FoliageSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus × burkwoodii — foliage
Checked 2026-08-13
In a containerHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

Growth rate: Slow — under about 30 cm a year
Ultimate height: 250–350 cm
Ultimate spread: 200–300 cm
Time to reach it: 15–25 yearsSourced guidance

Where these figures come from

Growth rateSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus × burkwoodii — growth rate
Checked 2026-08-13
Ultimate heightSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus × burkwoodii — ultimate height
Checked 2026-08-13
Ultimate spreadSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus × burkwoodii — ultimate spread
Checked 2026-08-13
Time to reach itSourced guidancelow confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus × burkwoodii — time to ultimate size
Checked 2026-08-13

Cutting it back. Takes hard pruning into old wood and regrows, which makes it far more forgiving than most evergreen hedges. It is slow, though, so a severe reduction takes several seasons to look right — the tolerance is real and the patience required is the cost.

source

Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

Method	Suitability	What it needs
Open ground	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Traditional dug bed	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Raised bed	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Container	Workable source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13

Growing it

PruningClip after flowering. It takes hard pruning into old wood and regrows, which makes it far more forgiving as a hedge than most evergreens — but it is slow, so a hard reduction takes several seasons to look right again.
PlantingOne of the more reliable evergreens for a thin alkaline soil over chalk, where a great many hedging plants struggle and where laurel in particular yellows.

Where this guidance comes from

PruningSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus — pruning
Checked 2026-08-13
PlantingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Osmanthus — soil
Checked 2026-08-13

The bud you cut to becomes the new shoot, and it grows in the direction it points — which is why an outward-facing bud opens the plant up and an inward-facing one crosses the middle.

Sources for this page

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.