This shrub will brighten shady parts of your garden with its yellow-speckled leaves.
Gold dust plant (Aucuba japonica) is an all-star component of alow-maintenance shade border.
Gold dust plant is grown for its foliage.
Credit: Cynthia Haynes
It has berries and flowers as well, but they are small and insignificant.
It is cold-hardy inUSDA zones 6-10, where it is especially well-suited for creating a privacy screen.
Dig a hole in the amended soil that is as tall as the nursery container and slightly wider.
Credit: Cynthia Haynes
Set the plant in the hole at the same soil line as it was in its container.
Backfill with amended soil, pressing down with your hands to eliminate air pockets.
Water the transplant at ground level to keep its leaves dry.
Credit: Denny Schrock
Spread a 2-inch-thick layer of shredded mulch or compost over the root zone after planting.
Water plants regularly throughout the first growing season.
Light
Gold dust plant thrives in full shade.
Credit: Tony Walsh
The plant needs high humidity to thrive.
Fertilizer
Fertilize your gold dust plants with aslow-release balanced granular fertilizerin early spring.
It’s important not to overfertilize these plants.
Indoors, fertilize the plant with a balanced liquid plant fertilizer monthly during the growing season.
Stop fertilizing during the cold season when growth is minimal.
Pruning
Gold dust plant requires only simple pruning in spring to maintain the desired size and shape.
Keep it in bright light in a location no warmer than 65F.
These pests can be treated with insecticidal soap or horticultural oil.
How to Propagate Gold Dust Plant
Propagate gold dust plants withstem cuttings.
In the spring, choose from stem tips.
In summer, semi-ripe stems are a better choice.
Remove the leaves from the bottom half of each cutting and cut the rest of the leaves in half.
Stick the cuttings in the rooting medium and don’t let any leaves touch the medium.
No rooting hormone is needed.
Place the pot inside a clear plastic bag and close it with a twist tie.
Open it only to water when the medium looks slightly dry.
When it has developed a robust root system, repot it in a pot with fresh potting soil.
It grows 10 feet tall and wide.
It will produce berries if a male pollinizer is nearby.
It grows 10 feet tall and wide.
Gold dust plants are slow-growing.
It can take 10 or more years for a 6- to 10-foot tall plant to reach its mature height.
