Ornamentalshrub ornamentalStraightforward

Viburnum

Viburnum tinus

An evergreen shrub that flowers through the winter, which is unusual enough to make it valuable, and tolerates shade, clay, coastal wind and hard pruning. It is the default answer to a difficult evergreen position in a British garden.

Position: Full sun or Partial shade or Dappled shade
Water: moderate demand
Drainage: Moisture-retentive, Free-draining
Grows to: 200–300 cm × 200–300 cm
Hardiness: H5
Flowers: November to March
Difficulty: Straightforward

August

Nothing to do

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

Viburnum’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	J	F	M	A	M	O	N	D
Plant			March.	April.		October.	November.
In flower	January.	February.	March.				November.	December.
Prune				April.	May.

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: Hardy
Hardiness rating: H5 (RHS)
Grows best at: 8–25 °C
Soil: Loam, Clay, Chalky, Sandy
Soil pH: 6–8
Drainage: Moisture-retentive, Free-draining
Water needs: moderate
Drought: moderate tolerance
Waterlogging: moderate tolerance
Heat: good tolerance
Wind and exposure: good tolerance

Where these figures come from

LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Viburnum — position

Checked 2026-08-13

FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Viburnum — 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: Viburnum — temperature

Checked 2026-08-13

SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Viburnum — soil

Checked 2026-08-13

Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence

Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Viburnum tinus — culture

Checked 2026-08-13

DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence

Royal Horticultural Society: Viburnum — 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

Stands coastal wind and salt well.

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	Viburnum 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 Viburnum 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.
Chalky and alkaline	Grows well here	Viburnum grows perfectly well on chalky and alkaline without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Loam	Prefers this soil	Loam suits Viburnum 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 Viburnum 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	Viburnum 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 Viburnum as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Loam is among the soils it is recorded as suiting.
Made ground and urban soil	Works, with one condition	Viburnum 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: 200–300 cm
Mature spread: 200–300 cm
Rooting depth: 70 cm
Spacing: 150–250 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: Viburnum — 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.

In a container

Minimum volume: 40 litres or more
Minimum depth: 45 cm

Where the container figures come from

Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Viburnum — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13
Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Viburnum — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13

Workable while young for the more compact evergreens, and a poor bet for the large deciduous kinds, which want more root room than a pot gives. The winter-flowering forms earn a container by being scented in January near a door. Loam-based compost, water through the summer, top-dress each spring, and accept that it will eventually need planting out.

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: Not a realistic container plant

Where these figures come from

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

Growth rate: Moderate — roughly 30–60 cm a year
Ultimate height: 200–300 cm
Ultimate spread: 200–300 cm
Time to reach it: 10–20 yearsSourced guidance

Where these figures come from

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

Cutting it back. Takes hard pruning after flowering and breaks freely from old wood, which makes it one of the more forgiving evergreen screens to keep at a set size.

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
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

ProtectionCheck the undersides of the leaves in April and May for viburnum beetle larvae, which skeletonise the foliage quickly. An established shrub recovers, and picking the larvae off a small plant is worthwhile.
PruningPrune after the winter flowers finish rather than in autumn, which would remove the buds. It tolerates hard renovation pruning if it has outgrown its position.
WateringWater through the first two summers after planting and rarely afterwards — viburnums are undemanding shrubs that cope with most soils and once established need very little. The evergreen kinds are worth watering in a dry autumn, because an evergreen going into winter dry in a windy position is the one most likely to be scorched. Autumn planting suits them particularly well: the soil is still warm, the top growth is slowing, and the plant meets its first summer with roots already spread.
FeedingA mulch of garden compost in spring is enough for almost every viburnum. A general-purpose feed at the same time is worth giving on thin soil or to a plant recovering from hard pruning. Nothing late in the season — the winter-flowering kinds are setting buds through the autumn and soft nitrogen-fed growth simply gets frosted, taking some of the display with it.

Where this guidance comes from

ProtectionSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Viburnum beetle
Checked 2026-08-13
PruningSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Viburnum — pruning
Checked 2026-08-13
WateringSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Viburnum — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13
FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Viburnum — cultivation
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.

What goes wrong

Problem	How often	Notes
Viburnum beetle	common source Horticultural consensusmoderate confidence No external citation — see the evidence type above. Checked 2026-08-13	Skeletonises the leaves in May and again in late summer.

Safety and edibility

Cats and dogs

Pet safety not established

Safety around cats and dogs has not been established for Viburnum. Absence from a toxicity list is not the same as being listed as safe.

Insufficient evidenceconfidence unknown

The RHS lists Viburnum tinus berries as causing stomach upset if eaten, and the profile page says so. No accepted animal-toxicology authority names the species, so the pet verdict stays open rather than being upgraded from a horticultural caution.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Toxicitychildrenpets
The berries cause stomach upset if eaten and are not edible, despite looking like fruit.
source
Sourced guidancemoderate confidence
- Royal Horticultural Society: Viburnum — toxicity
Checked 2026-08-13
Discourage children from eating the berries.

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.