Silver Buttonwood Plant – A Comprehensive Guide to Care
Conocarpus erectus var. sericeus is a silvery-green foliaged shrub or small tree hardy in USDA zone 9b to 11, native to coastal Florida, the Caribbean and Central America. It has long been a favourite of landscapers and plant enthusiastsage plants and like plants that tolerate difficult situations. Whether you need a plant for your garden that’s eye-catching and hardy, or nothing more elaborate than a yard shrubbery or a bedding plant for the ground, the Silver Buttonwood will easily fit the bill. This article covers the characteristics and care of the Silver Buttonwood plant, as well as its many benefits.
Understanding the Silver Buttonwood Plant
The Silver Buttonwood is a type of Buttonwood (Combretapiscatoriegina), a medium-sized deciduous tree found in parts of the Caribbean, Central America, the southeastern United States, and South America. It’s described as ‘silvery’ or ‘sericeous’ because of the fine silver hairs that cover the leaves, which have a soft, silvery, metallic sheen. The plant can be grown as a shrub, as a hedge, or as a small tree.
Characteristics of the Silver Buttonwood
The Silver Buttonwood differs from other plants because of its distinctive foliage. The leaves are oblong to elliptical, measuring from about 2 to 4 inches in length, and they are covered in very small grey or silvery hairs, giving the plant its silver colour. This silver hue is not only aesthetically pleasing but it also has a function. The silver colour reflects more sunlight and helps to protect the plant against high evaporation rates when it is growing in hot and dry environments.
Its small, greenish-white flowers grow in conspicuously spiky clusters, and are followed by button-like seed pods, after which it gets its common name. The silvery-grey outer bark has a bark that is smooth at first, and then ridged in tight scales, adding layers of texture to the overall form and appearance of the tree.
Growth Habits
It can grow 15-20ft tall when planted as a tree, with a 10-15ft spread, but it will also maintain its more compact form if planted as a shrub or hedge, usually around 6-10ft. It can maintain a moderate to dense canopy, making the plant a great choice for creating shade in your yard or for acting as a living screen.
Perhaps its most remarkable quality was its versatility; it was equally at home in a lawn in sandy soil or in rocky, or even clay soil. It tolerated salty environments, and was eminently suitable for coastal gardens. It could withstand high winds, making it a good choice in hurricane-prone areas.
Natural Habitat and Distribution
Photo by PH BensonThe Silver Buttonwood’s native range is in the coastal areas of Florida, where it often grows in mangroves and in sandy, low-lying areas by the shoreline. This specimen is found in poor quality, highly saline soils where it plays an important role in soil stabilisation and contributes to coastal dune integrity.
Its resilience to drought and its salt-tolerance has made it a favourite in landscaping throughout its introduced range, and it can be found growing in the tropics and subtropics worldwide, particularly in places where other difficult to survive.
Planting and Care of Silver Buttonwood
Despite being easy to maintain, the Silver Buttonwood appreciates when its needs are attended to so it can flourish in your yard. Each of its needs can become a best practice for you.
Ideal Growing Conditions
The Silver Buttonwood prefers full sun but can take some shade. However, to have the best foliage colour and plant growth, we recommend planting in a sunny location that receives at least 6 hours of full sunlight during the day. Once established, the plant is quite drought tolerant, but will improve the health of the plant greatly if watered by hand during the first few months after planting to help establish its root system.
Soil Requirements
It is not picky about the soil and will grow in a wide variety of textured soil, from sandy to loamy to clay (but a soil with good drainage is essential to prevent root rot, especially in areas where the rainfall is high). To obtain better drainage, if your soil is heavy or not well drained, select a spot on a slight mound.
Watering and Fertilization
And once in place, the Silver Buttonwood is quite drought tolerant, requiring little to no watering at all. But a once-in-a-while deep soaking during extended drought and other periods of extreme heat will help it retain its vigor and appearance. Don’t overwater though, as that can damage roots.
Fertilisation is not strictly necessary for the Silver Buttonwood, especially if it is grown in good soil, but if you find the plant slow to thrive or its foliage not quite as bright and jolly as expected, then in springtime you may apply a small amount of ‘all purpose’ slow-release fertiliser. Use with caution,fertilisation can encourage excessive plant growth, which, more often than not, will reduce the plant’s natural resilience.
Pruning and Maintenance
The Silver Buttonwood is an easy plant to shape and maintain. If you want a formal, round shape, do not prune it back, just remove all dead or damaged branches. The plant will naturally grow back into a round and healthy shape. If you want to keep the plant as a somewhat spherical hedge, then the plant needs to be pruned every few years to not grow too high. This can easily be done by aiming to hold the top back to your desired height. Tree forms can be gave a more open tree shape by removing most of the lower stems.
Due to it’s rapid growth rate, you will likely have to prune more regularly while it’s in the growing season, particularly if you wish it to remain at a specific size. Use sharp, clean tools to make clean cuts and prevent unnecessary stress to the plant.
Benefits of Growing Silver Buttonwood
Its Silver Buttonwood has many advantages that are both ornamental and practical. The Silver Buttonwood is an example of a tree that can bring life and beauty to any garden or landscape.
Aesthetic Appeal
This colour makes the Silver Buttonwood a unique and distinctive foliage that none of the other plants in the garden have. Its presence in the landscape will create a contrast with the other plants, especially in case they are dark green or brightly coloured .
This concept can be explored in different ways. For example, the Silver Buttonwood could be used as a focal point in the landscape, which means it will be the only foliage of its kind in the landscape, and will attract a lot of attention from the viewer, as will any focal point in a landscape.
The foliage will also contribute greatly to the hedge we are trying to create. Our strategy for creating a beautiful hedge will be based on mixing different styles of foliage to create contrast in colours, shapes, and sizes.
As well as being used as a focal point or accent in the landscape (or as part of a hedge), the Silver Buttonwood can be strategically used as a background for the rest of the plants, giving them a beautiful backdrop.
Environmental Benefits
Because of its capacity to endure poor soil conditions and saline exposure, the Silver Buttonwood also helps to restore coastal areas against salt and environmental damage, and can serve as an erosion control agent, providing habitat and nourishment for birds and insects, and making it a valuable habitat plant for generating biodiversity in your garden.
Not only does the plant’s ability to withstand stress lend it an air of authenticity, but – as with organic food in your shopping basket – using it in your garden means it needs fewer comparatively environmentally damaging inputs such as water and fertilisers.
Practical Uses
The Silver Buttonwood is valued as an ornamental plant, but its dense, rapid growth habit makes it a good windbreak or shelterbelt around a property, or a privet (ie, a hedge meant to provide privacy from prying eyes) in coastal areas where other plants don’t do very well. The wood contains a lot of calcium salts, which made it especially useful for making charcoal, furniture or boat parts in the past.
On top of this, Silver Buttonwood is also a valuable plant for phytoremediation – the process in which plants are used to purify polluted soil and water. Since it can absorb and tolerate heavy metals, it may well prove to be an asset in repurposing toxic environments.
Common Pests and Diseases
Although pretty disease- and pest-resistant, this Silver Buttonwood likely won’t escape challenges entirely. Staying attuned to such potential threats could help you keep your plant healthy and happy.
Pests
Among the common garden pests, the Silver Buttonwood is rarely bothered. Aphids, scale insects or caterpillars may occasionally defoliate or cause noticeable damage, but an inspection at appropriate intervals, followed by treatment with the appropriate organic or chemical controls, will keep these pests to a minimum.
Diseases
A fungal disease can set in (leaf spot or root rot, for example) if the plant is grown in poorly draining soil or a very humid environment. Make sure the plant sits in a well-ventilated area with lots of air circulation and don’t water from above. If fungal problems manifest, you may have to treat the plant with a fungicidal spray.