October ANTI-Shrub of the Month-Burning bush

It’s that time again … when the emails, calls, and inquiries start-up about burning bushes. People LOVE that red color in the fall, so much so that they ignore everything else about this shrub to have that brilliant red color for a week in Autumn. 

St Louis, please, we can do better than that.

What’s so bad about burning bushes? They are tough, yes. They have brilliant fall color, yes. HOWEVER, the much-loved burning bush, Euonymus alatus, a native of Asia, is recognized as an invasive species in 21 states, and that list is growing. Missouri Botanical Garden’s Plantfinder lists burning bush as a Noxious Weed and states (IN RED, mind you!) “Do Not Plant.” The shrubs form dense thickets, and hundreds of seedlings sprout below the parent plants. (Called seed shadows) Birds eat the berries, spreading the seeds even further. 

Despite the growing awareness of invasives, growers still grow it, nurseries still sell it, people still buy it, AND SO growers will keep growing it, and nurseries will keep selling it, repeat, repeat, repeat…The answer to the problem starts with education. After education should come action. If consumers from commercial landscape companies to the average home gardener stop buying a plant, the demand lowers and eventually ‘trickles up’ to the grower level. Hopefully, the growers are also educating themselves and are willing to give up making a profit at the expense of our natural ecosystems (plants and animals alike) that are already taxed and in decline. THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS OUT THERE.

Invasiveness aside, burning bush offers little ‘bang for your buck’ regarding landscape plants. Face it, until that one glowing week in Autumn, they are just plain dull and overused, offering no showy flowers, no winter interest, and a maintenance level that I consider more of a never-ending uphill battle to keep their enormous size in check. Often planted as ‘foundation plantings’ to hide ugly concrete basement walls, burning bush’s immense mature size and upright vase-shape ends up hiding your 2nd-floor windows instead, and that’s only during the growing season since they are deciduous, making them worse than overused boxwoods or yews, which at least offer year-round evergreen coverage.

Another common use for burning hush is as a hedge. “More is more’ when it comes to burning bush fans. Surely, the only thing more fun than trimming one burning bush (usually into an unnatural geometric shape.) is trimming SIXTY!

“But wait!” you say. “My burning bush is DWARF! It says ‘Compacta’ right on the plant tag!” This is where we have a hard lesson about “relativity.” Euonymus alatus ‘Compacta’ is the most common burning bush sold in the trade, and yes, compared to the straight species, which can grow 20′ or more, ‘Compacta’ ONLY tops out around 12′ or so. Picture the roof of a typical ranch home, and yes, your darling ‘dwarf’ burning bush will be above it, taking your gutter along with it as it keeps growing beyond your wildest three-gallon-sized dreams.

“I can keep it pruned!” you say. Unlike boxwoods or yews, which take average hedge trimmers nicely, the course, stiff stems (which are ‘winged’) of burning bush are hard to shear unless you have a heavier-duty trimmer like the commercial maintenance companies. Even then, unless you are hand pruning, they look like someone took a riding lawn mower to them, leaving ugly, blunt stems, thus making a boring plant even uglier. At MBG, the multiple burning bushes in the Japanese Garden are pruned with hand pruners EVERY year to keep their size and shape in check and to avoid the ugly blunt-cut results that hedge trimmers leave.

So, what are some alternatives to the beloved burning bush? 

-Euonymus americana-strawberry bush and Eastern wahoo, Euonymus atropurpureus, are two native alternatives with red fall color, and unique berries. Both are well-behaved in the garden, unlike their Asian cousin.

-Chokeberry-Aronia: Another native with excellent fall color and tart berries the birds love. There are cultivars available like Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissima’ or Aronia melanocarpa ‘Viking.’ Aronia can grow to 8′- still smaller and more manageable than burning bush without all the trimming.

-Ilex verticillata-Winterberry A pale yellow for fall color, but outstanding red berries from fall into winter. Cultivars abound that stay under 5′. A very low-maintenance shrub. December Shrub of the Month-Winterberry (garden-lou.com)

-Fothergilla-Smaller shrubs with outstanding fall colors of yellow, orange, and red at the same time, adorable spring flowers, and very low maintenance. Many cultivars are available. October Shrub of the Month-Fothergilla (garden-lou.com)

-Witchhazel, Hamamells-Unique fragrant flowers in late fall or early spring. Beautiful vase shape similar to burning bush up to 12′ high and fall color ranging from yellow to bright red. January Shrub of the Month-Witch Hazel (garden-lou.com)

-Oakleaf hydrangea-Hydrangea quercifolia Excellent fall color and a range of heights from 4′ to 8′. Great winter interest with the dried flower heads and cinnamon-colored peely bark. May Shrub of the Month-Ruby Slippers Hydrangea (garden-lou.com)

-Serviceberry-Amelanchier.-A small native tree with outstanding fall color, delicate flowers in spring and edible fruit. September Tree of the Month-Serviceberry (garden-lou.com)

Educate yourself about invasives at Missouri Invasive Plant Council’s online resources;

Missouri Invasive Plant Council | making invasive plants a statewide priority (moinvasives.org)

Comments or questions? Email Garden-Lou at gardenloustl@gmail.com

Words and photos by Jo Batzer

© Jo Batzer, garden-lou.com-2023, All rights reserved.