How to Grow Schefflera Outside
Schefflera or Umbrella Trees, Same Thing
The Tropical Grower is back to tropical basics with How to Grow Schefflera Outside. Schefflera, also called Umbrella, trees are cornerstones in Our Garden, meaning they are building blocks of the beds and areas we landscape.
Not only are Schefflera trees distinctly tropical in feel and completely trainable, they are not pokey. Tropicals tend to be pokey, but I can full-body plunge into Schefflera with the cutters unscathed as long as I don’t hit a big branch. Ours have big thick branches. Not pokey is a lovely change of pace when working in Our Garden. With tropicals in general.
Tropical Plant
Schefflera is an evergreen tropical plant. While it can grow outdoors in warm weather below Zone 10, it does not like frost. Temperatures below 32 degrees are likely to kill it. Although, I will tell you I’ve seen it growing outdoors north of Tampa, Florida in the subtropical zones. Maturity, location and health make a difference, but it is a risky plant outdoors if you’re lower than Zone 10. The good news for you northerns is I’ve seen a Zone 7 variety recently. There may be hope.
Most people grow it indoors in pots, some even move it outdoors to a sheltered location during warmer weather. My family had a large Schefflera in a pot, and later an indoor terrarium, when I was little. Its name was Herbie. So, when My Mom had the choice, Schefflera seemed right. We use it for hedges, tunnels, screening and interest. So much so, we’ve done posts on How to Create A Tunnel Through Your Vegetation and How to Train Your Plants. It’s so trainable.
Distinct Umbrella Shape
You can usually recognize a Schefflera by its distinct umbrella shaped cluster of leaves. If you hold up a single stem, the stretched-oval shaped leaves droop a little around the center stem. I’ve seen it described as umbrella, of course, pinwheel, spoke, wheel, and rosette. The older the plant, the more leaves around each stem, but each Schefflera kind of fills its space.
The plant itself starts out as a single main stem or trunk. With each cluster of leaves, a new section of trunk grows to support it. In young plants and the Dwarf varieties, the leaf clusters remain and the trunk branches out like a shrub. It’s very bushy. In older Australian varieties, they lose the lower leaf clusters to form canopy heads on single larger trunks, very tree-like, usually resulting in multiple trunks in a single location.
Types
We grow two types of Schefflera trees, the Dwarf or Hawaiian variety and the Australian Umbrella Tree. People regularly grow both as houseplants and outdoors in tropical zones. We see them all over in landscaping. They’re an easy choice in our area as they love our growing conditions. But. Yes, there is a but. But, if you plant them outside, you have to be careful of spread because they drop seeds in abundance. So much for making them happy enough to flower. They rarely bloom indoors.
Dwarf or Hawaiian
Our Dwarf Schefflera has shiny or glossy medium-length green to dark green clusters of thick leaves. There is on occasion a tiny yellow variegation to the leaves. Usually, there are 8 or 9 leaves coming out of a single stem to form a cluster.
These are the garden trainees. The arches, tunnels, and hedges. Because they retain and regrow the leaves on all the branches, including the lower ones, they are quite bushy and great for screening. Their flower spikes range in color from a white to a yellow, but they only emerge from the very large free-growing plants, never the hedges or ones kept small. We think of this plant as an area, not a single plant.
There are numerous varieties with variegated leaves ranging in color from cream to yellows, and of course greens. Most of them are native to Asia, Taiwan and the region. We see these all the time in commercial landscaping, usually hacked small and placed in front. My Mom and I have pondered ‘why’ often as these are easy to grow big and offer screening. The only reason we can come up with is they are not pokey. Best to place the not pokey stuff in the front where people might accidentally brush up against it. It’s a good theory.
Australian Umbrella Tree
The Australian Umbrella Tree is larger. It looks like a tree. The leaves are longer, very floppy like rabbit ears, and they’re a true green with no variegation. Where the Dwarf variety spreads out, this one likes to go up, but don’t let it fool you. Eventually, it will send up more big trunks. Plan an area for it to grow into as it matures or you will be battling trunks. No one wants to battle trunks.
We see these more in residential landscaping, including ours. Again, we have very favorable growing conditions, and we often see the red spikes of flowers. Since this is not their native habitat, we have to make sure to watch the berries, actually called drupes. We usually lop them off before the berries turn brown or black and spread. Yellow-orange berries go into county compost, where they can break down and not our compost to sprout.
Fun or Maybe Annoying Fact: The scientific naming powers that be are probably going to start changing names. Only the types from Australia and the immediate region will probably retain the Schefflera name. Boo. Hiss. It’s Herbie and will always be a Schefflera to me.
Sun
Where houseplants like bright indirect sun, it’s not the case when you plant them outside. They grow in both Full Sun, 6 hours tropical sun, and Partial Shade, dappled direct sun or a few hours of direct morning sun. That being said, we do grow them in full, Full Sun. While most of ours are grouped, they do just fine in all day sun with the canopy shading the trunk. The more mature they become, the more tolerant they become of just about everything. Having a nice thick layer of dead dried leaves around the trunk is helpful in keeping everything cool down there.
Now, don’t confuse what I’m saying and throw your houseplant pot outside in the Full Sun. It will probably burn. If it is used to growing inside, mimic your conditions unless you want it out there permanently. If that’s the case, increase its sun gradually, and I mean very gradually, like weeks outside in shade, followed by months of partial shade before you even think about moving it into Full Sun.
Water
The most important thing to remember if you are growing Schefflera is these are not water plants. While tropical, they will not grow in areas of standing water, and they are not particularly forgiving about it. If you are not Growing Tropical, there’s probably a confused look on your face. It’s simple, we flood. Don’t plant these in your drainage areas. They don’t like to sit in standing water.
Because they are tropical, they follow the same rainy – growth season and dry – dormant season schedule. Unless they are new plants, we don’t even irrigate ours. While there can be die-back during the dormant season if we have been very dry, we usually just have a season of little to no growth. I sprayed them with the hose a couple of times last winter/spring because we were so dry, but they probably would have been okay. Even the one pulled up from Hurricane Ian only lost a couple of branches. It was fine.
Indoors, wait until the soil completely dries out and water deeply. Stick it in the sink, fill and let it drain out the bottom a couple of times. Let it sit between fills. Then, set it back on its tray. If the tray fills with water, whether you are taking it to the sink or bringing water to the pot, make sure the tray empties completely within an hour or so. If it doesn’t, empty the tray. Don’t let the pot sit in standing water. I think of Schefflera like Our Grumpy Old Man dog Buc. He hates his paws wet. Don’t let the roots sit wet.
Soil
Schefflera is happiest in nutrient rich, well draining soil. How that looks, depends on what you use. Adding compost to our Yard Sand makes a nutrient rich Sandy Compost. It’s both rich in nutrients and fast-draining which is the sweet spot for Schefflera. It also grows in Black Sand which is the sandy version of Sandy Compost. You can use any number of types Sand, Peat, Silt, Loam, but mix to the right consistency.
We don’t have much experience planting in Clays, but they tend to hold moisture and will keep the roots wet unless mixed well with something that drains quickly like Sand. Straight compost can have the same problem if you get lots of water. You want a mix that allows the soil to dry-out around the roots between watering.
Nutrients
Scheffleras want nitrogen. Not like Broccoli, it would swallow whole manure piles if it could, but it’s a green plant. It will need the stuff that bolsters green growth.
Use a neutral or a slightly nitrogen heavy fertilizer to feed all the plant’s needs from the leafy green to the roots. We like an application of the slow-release granular fertilizer Osmocote Smart-Release Plant Food, and a helping of Compost in the Spring, sometimes fall, for overall health. There is also natural composting in the beds year-round.
Prune
Shrub Kind
You will have to prune Schefflera. The bushy shrub kind, obviously. Any plant that is both a crazy grower and bushy will need a good prune. We trim ours any time during the rainy season it gets crazy, at least once. Towards the end of the rainy season, we usually give it a good fall cut to its form, whatever that is. Make sure to catch it before it goes dormant for the winter. You can damage the plant trimming in the dormant season, up to and even killing the plant. One of our hedges was damaged in a late cut. A whole section died, and it took years for it to grow correctly again. I’m still pulling Cannas out of the middle of the hedge where they tried to take its place. Dang.
We haven’t found cutting it at the sections, diagonally or in any specific way makes much difference. However, if you cut all the leaf clusters off a single branch, it can kill the branch. Not always, but enough I make an effort to leave at least one leaf cluster. These will usually make at least 2 branches wherever I make a cut.
Tree Kind
The Australian tree version also needs some attention with the clippers, but not in the same way. You may or may not want many multiple trunks. Prune as they emerge to the number desired. These also get top heavy and can either snap the entire leafy canopy off or knock the tree over. The taller the trunk, the bigger the risk. Both can kill the plant.
Don’t chop the center, new growth, but anything lower is fair game. While these are quite hearty, be careful of hard cuts. Too much will kill the plant. We’ve had 2 Australian Umbrella trees die due to falling over in storms. Big giant trunk trees, just didn’t recover. Make sure you have a couple young trunks growing in the mix in case the older ones go down. We had to start over with new plants.
Propagating, Making Babies
Schefflera sprouts well from seed or drupes, a little too well, according to the State of Florida. It’s been flagged as a problem. So, be a good, responsible grower, and make sure you aren’t spreading it throughout the neighborhood, or randomly through your garden. Remove the berry spikes before they drop everywhere or are carried away by the birds. I found baby Schefflera in a pot in the Traditional Vegetable and Herb garden where the berries would have had to come from completely across the yard. What?
Or plant them outside in a pot and grow more. If you’re pulling drupes, the berries, off the plants, wait till they are black or very dark brown before you stick them in the ground. No need to dry them. We’ve never planted ones from a seed pack, but it should work the same. Soak them overnight before dropping them in the soil.
Schefflera can also be propagated using cuttings. Young new growth works best. Cut at a section, dab on some root hormone, and place in water until roots form, then plant. Now, that being a tried and true method, it doesn’t work well on big branches. Or I should say, it works only part of the time on big branches. They are really hit or miss.
If you’re going to try a big branch, and I will say when you’re looking at the big 6 foot long cuttings on the ground, you want to do something with them, try finding a section that has grown aerial roots. Cut at the section below the one with aerial roots, and plant. We haven’t had much luck otherwise. It either grows or doesn’t, mostly doesn’t.
Reuse & Recycle
The Schefflera is my most favorite reuse plant. The thick leaves dry into a perfect mulch ground cover. While it’s nice for a compost layer in the pile, it is even better thrown on the ground, whole stemmed, in the walk areas to dry in place. The pinwheel clusters don’t move around much while drying, and they provide nice coverage.
Although the big branches don’t propagate well, they’re a favorite for the chipper. The dried branches chip beautifully, especially for the mulched walking paths.
It’s a nice small woody chip that never tangles up the blade with fibrous materials, as long as they are dry. This is a common problem chipping up tropical plants, they tend to have long stringy fibers that muck up the blade. So, we usually try to root the cuttings, and when that doesn’t work, you’ll see them in piles drying, waiting for the chipper.
How to Grow Schefflera Outside
If you have the climate, Schefflera is a great addition to your outdoor garden. Not only is it easy to care for, it is extremely trainable from hedges to arches and tunnels. Best part is it’s not pokey. Add the tropical feel and ease of reuse around your garden, and Schefflera is an all around winner. You can grow a multi-trunk tree, a shrub tree, or a hedge, depending on the variety you plant and the way you grow it. How is that for all around versatility? You can see why it is a cornerstone around Our Garden.
