Evergreen shrubPrivacy screenHedgeDrought tolerantPollinatorsNative

Toyon

Heteromeles arbutifolia

A California native evergreen with clusters of fragrant white flowers in summer and bright red winter berries that birds devour, an excellent hedge that helps hold slopes. It's easy in clay or sand and drought tolerant once established. It can take a few years to settle, and it prefers part shade in hot, dry areas.

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Toyon: whole plant — Photo: Chris Hunkeler from Carlsbad, California, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mature size: 10 × 9 ft; 3 × 2.7 m, tall × wide
Sun: Full sun to part shade
Water: Dry
Blooms: Jun–Jul

Toyon at its mature size

A mature Toyon grows 6 to 30 feet tall and 6 to 15 feet wide, taller than most people.

Drawn to scale beside a 5 ft 9 in person. With VeraScape, you see it at this size in your own yard.

Typical mature size, unpruned. Sources: San Marcos Growers, Calscape.

Through the year

What Toyon looks like month by month in a typical zone 6–7 garden.

Fruit · Nov–Feb

Leathery toothed leaves with clusters of red berries.

In leaf · Mar–May, Aug–Oct

Leathery dark green leaves, no berries.

In flower · Jun–Jul

Flat clusters of small white flowers.

Photos

Toyon: flowers — Flowers · Awinch1001, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Toyon: detail — Detail · Franco Folini from San Francisco, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Growing Toyon

Grows well in: California.
Good for: Privacy screen, hedge, drought tolerant, and pollinators
Leaves: Evergreen
Native to: California and Baja California

Spacing for a hedge

VeraScape spaces plants so their grown canopies just touch. For Toyon, that’s about 9 ft apart, center to center.

Place a row in your own yard and VeraScape spaces them at their mature width, so you can see whether they’ll crowd the walk.