Does Arrowwood Viburnum Spread

Does arrowwood viburnum spread itself around, or will it stay in place if I plant one shrub?

Answer: Arrowwood Viburnum, Viburnum dentatum, is a wonderful deciduous shrub that is relatively easy to grow and can tolerate most conditions and soil types. With clusters of tiny, creamy-white flat-topped flowers blooming throughout late spring into summer followed by bursts of inedible, dark blue rounded berries in fall, these lovely shrubs are jam-packed with splendor. However, the flowers are not the only charming quality about arrowwoods.

Its crisp, dark green foliage turns into a variety of radiant hues of yellows, oranges, reds and even purples in fall (color range depending on the climate), offering stunning displays. These are multistemmed shrubs, and many gardeners want to control the plant’s often vigorous growth to maintain a tidy and attractive form.

Arrowwood viburnum can reach a height ranging from 5 to 15 feet with a similar width and can also produce suckers from the base of the trunk. (So, yes, it can spread.) Due to these suckers and the plant's width, just one of these feisty bushes can quickly take up a lot of space in the garden. To help control the growth, prune immediately each year after flowering and remove any suckers to keep the plant situated in a desired location.

To properly prune arrowwood viburnum, you should prune broken, damaged and old growth to the base of the plant with a pair of sharp pruning shears or loppers while trimming younger branches with hand pruners to a desired shape. To remove the suckers, cut and/or mow the each time they appear. Make sure not to cut down more than 1/3 of the plant when pruning.

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