Simpson's Stopper
A workhorse native hedge shrub with fragrant flowers and berries the birds strip clean.
Myrcianthes fragrans
The do-everything native hedge with fragrant flowers and peeling cinnamon bark
Why it works here
When someone asks me for a native hedge that actually behaves, Simpson's stopper is usually my first answer. It clips into a dense formal hedge or grows out as a small multi-trunk tree with beautiful reddish-brown peeling bark. Fragrant white puffball flowers show up mainly in spring, then orange-red berries follow, and mockingbirds and cardinals clean them off. Crush a leaf and you get a spicy nutmeg scent. It handles salt, sand, drought, and shears, which is nearly the whole checklist for a Treasure Coast hedge.
Care
Water it on a regular schedule for the first year, then it largely fends for itself. Mulch well and feed with compost or a balanced organic fertilizer once a year at most. It takes hard pruning without complaint, but the more often you shear, the fewer flowers and berries you get, so I like to let hedges rough up a little between cuts. Growth is around a foot a year, steady rather than fast.
Common problems
Very few, and I mean that. It's in the myrtle family, so guava rust, a fungal disease that spots new leaves, can occasionally show up in warm wet weather: prune for airflow and remove affected flushes, and it rarely amounts to much. Impatient owners are its biggest pest: it establishes surely but not quickly.
Common questions
Why is it called a stopper?
The old story says the fruit was used as a folk remedy to stop digestive trouble. Whatever the truth, the name stuck for this whole group of native shrubs.
How far apart do I plant it for a hedge?
Three to five feet apart is the sweet spot. Closer gives you a solid screen faster, farther saves money and fills in within a few seasons.
Can it replace my ficus hedge?
That's exactly the job I use it for. It's slower than ficus, but it won't be killed by whiteflies, won't invade your pipes, and feeds the birds while it screens your yard.
Interested in a simpson's stopper in your landscape?
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