Planting Wax Myrtles - Fast Growing Native Evergreen Screening Plant 

A Native Plant on the 4th of July. Happy Independence Day to everyone.

Hey Jim! Thanks for this video. I planted a wax myrtle last year and it is getting big! I would like to tree form it, but have never done anything like that before (novice gardener here!). Do you have a video showing how to tree form? Also, how are your wax myrtles doing now that they are a few years old?!

I’ve been eyeing three wax myrtles on Lowe’s clearance rack. I keep walking by them. Now, I want to leave the house to go get them because of this review 😂

Do you have a screen yet? Hope we can an update on your wax myrtle soon!

Thanks for saying that, about not being able to tell the difference between male plants and female plants lol, I spent too much time on that 🤦‍♀️

Do you have a video that shows how much they have grown in 4 years? Thanks

When can I plant the southern wax Myrtle? It is now February in Texas Hill Country

This is a great fast growing native plant. I planted two several years ago and I am in zone 8b. Watch out for bagworms! Not sure if this is common but I had an issue with these last year.

Hello, I'm having some trouple with planting my Wax Myrtles. Planetd 12 in a row along a fence. 2 of the 12 are dying and the others look more or less ok. Not sure if I'm doing something wrong. Too much water or not enough? How can I know? Please any advice would be appreciated. Thank you

Jim I am also trying to screen out a neighbor with these Southern wax myrtle. Can you please tell me what kind of spacing you did on these in order to create a screen I bought eight of them here in zone 9 today and put them in the ground for feet apart I'm hoping that's not too close to each other but I want a very dense result

I love these for privacy. like a bush in the sky. Big problem for me is Japanese beetles.

Thanks Jim! Happy Independence Day to you as well. The house I moved into 3 years ago had 3 wax myrtles planted on the foundation along the East side of the house. They were about originally 5 feet tall, and until recently had grown to over 12 feet in height and about 5 feet in width. We had to move them as they never should have been planted next to the house, so we chopped them down to about a foot tall, no leaves, just stumps essentially. I moved the stumps and roots to an area away from the house along the fence. This was 3 weeks ago and I didn't really have much faith that they would make it, but thought it was worth a try so I watered them in a few times and then forgot about them. I watched your video and stopped to go take a look... WOW, all 3 are leafing out! Too cool :) I'll have to send a pic to your email. BTW, in their place I planted some gold dust aucuba thanks to your video on that plant.

I Would watch you more If you did more natives?

I thought the birds digest the wax for the fats. Also wax myrtle (Southern bayberry) has aromatic oil secreting stoma on both surfaces of the leaf, northern has only on the underside, so the wax myrtle is more aromatic (a selling point for me)

Should i wait till fall to plant them? I live in Texas

My landscaper planted 60 wax myrtles 30 and 45 gal around our pool area 1 year ago today and 99.9 percent of them look awful. We live in East Tx and have clay soil. I've watered them every week and check them every 5 to 8 days to make sure they stay moist. The landscaper mixed clay soil and compost when he planted them. They have all lost their leaves and are super super thin. We planted 190 30 gallons wax myrtles at our old house in Fairfield Tx which we had sandy loom and they all filled out crazy and thick after about 6 months. Now at our new house they look terrible Help what do we do. I'm thinking about pulling them all and planting nellie Steven's instead.

When propagating these seeds, do you HAVE to get that wax off? Can you recommend a good video showing how to propagate? Thx!!!!

Do you have a video on how to trim the wax myrtles? Thanks!

can i plant the shoots that come up around the tree?? i have a lot of them!

how far apart would you recommend planting them? I'd like to use them for privacy on a larger property and don't mind if they get to be huge.

Hello, I stumbled across your video because someone recommended I plant Southern Wax myrtle against my fence that is about 5-6 feet from our house. So, could you please let me know if the root system is invasive? Can I safely plant it 4 feet from the house? I live in far north part of Texas.

Love that and would love to see them later as you prune them for multi trunk trees. Interesting. 👏🏼

Hey Jim! Will wax Myrtle hurt my foundation? Like, if I plant them in foundation beds 4 feet from the house? I’m in zone 7a.

How tall do they grow if kept as a bush and not a tree

I wonder if planting okra around one would help the okra with the high nitrogen levels that they need to grow?

Do you know if these are toxic to dogs and cats? i wanted to put these in my backyard for privacy but i have 2 dogs and 2 cats that roam around outside.

I have 6 of these guys in my backyard as a screening hedge. We had a really bad freeze in Dallas-Fort Worth and now they are not growing back. The trunk is definitely dead. I'm getting these shoots growing from the roots. Should I just have the whole thing pulled out? Will these shoots be the new tree? How long will it take to grow back? Most of these trees did not survive the DFW freeze.

"Spread by rhyzomes" 👀 im wondering if this plant could get of control and cause future problems 🤔

Hi Jim, thanks for your informative video. We love our wax myrtles and have many. We just got several more but we're wondering how you can tell the difference between a male and female plant when they're young and only 2 ft tall. They need to be planted together or near each other to produce the berries right? I've read a little saying that the flowers look different, but ours are not flowering. 🙄 Thanks man.

I planted a wax myrtle last spring and got it through the winter in Zone 6B. It is on the south side of my carport, so not sure about the rest of my yard being suitable! The Florida nursery I bought from did say Zone 6 for the plant, but all other sources I saw said Zone 7. An experiment!

Awesome content! How far aprart to you space your Wax Mytles? I read that the Wax Myrtles can grow 8 to 10 feet wide so that means that about should be spaced 4 to 5 feet from each other.

Recently came across your channel when searching for Catawba Crape Myrtle. Your videos have been very helpful. Thank you so much for sharing. Happy 4th of July!

I wish these could grow in shade. I really need a fast growing evergreen to block out the neighbors! I'm in 7b as well. Any ideas? have a happy 4th! 🇺🇸

I received cuttings for the wax myrtle. Could you tell me how to plant them? I intend to keep them small in pots. I understand this plant helps to repel fleas.

How far apart would you plant them for a loose screen? Not so much a solid hedge. Don’t want to have to trim them.

how much distance apart should you plant them? 5 feet? for a nice privacy hedge.

I really like these but the deer in my neighborhood did indeed eat them to the ground.

Love to see natives!!!! Too bad I’m in 6a so can’t grow this one

I'm in Georgia, and I really enjoy your channel. Thanks!

Hi Jim, where can I find in Raleigh area Wax Myrtle for sale ?

Can these be used as front of house hedges if kept trimmed?

I love your channel. I live near you in Eastern North Carolina, your content is very relevant to me! However, I have a question... I bought some wax myrtles to put on my backline as a screening plant. How far apart should I be planting them? Thanks

I finally found these locally and the garden center had them labeled as Don's drawf 4-6 height. I purchased 10 three gallon plants and when I got home and spaced them in the garden noticed the form and habit of these plants do not look like drawfs to me. The tag on the the container simply reads "Myrica cerifera". Is there a way to distinguish between a drawf variety and one that grows larger? Thanks for your work...we enjoy every new video.

Thanks for taking time to share information.

Hi Jim - I don’t believe you mentioned the size of the wax myrtle. ??

Wish I could find these out here on the wesr coasr in zone 8

I can't believe I have lived in zone 7B for 28 years and I've never heard of a wax myrtle until I seen you review one!

Where can I buy seeds or bareroot online?

Are the berries toxic to dogs! Tks!

Hey, what staggered spacing did you use for screening?

yehaa fast growers

Love more native plant videos

Sun requirements?

Do you fertilize natives? Oh, and are these *evergreen* in 7b VA/NC?

Thanks Jim for the great review

Does it have flowers?

Hey Jim I am having some kind of problem with my wax myrtle on the stems it is getting little round dots on the lim near the leaves do u know what this could be?