Jojoba
Simmondsia chinensis
A thornless, low-litter Sonoran native that mounds to about 6 by 6 feet and holds its coarse gray-green foliage year-round — one of the cleanest shrubs you can put near a pool.
2candle / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 — license
Not sure if this plant belongs near your pool, wall, pavers, or foundation?
AE reviews microclimate, root intrusion risk, and soil compatibility.
Schedule: Weekly to twice-weekly in summer, less in cooler months.
Emitters: 1–2 emitters per shrub adjusted seasonally.
Most desert-adapted shrubs prefer drying out between waterings.
Arizona yards have very different microclimates. West-facing walls, glass, artificial turf, pavers, travertine, porcelain, and pool decking all increase reflected heat. AE considers these before confirming placement.
- Low root impact
AE verifies pool deck, paver, foundation, wall, and utility clearances before final planting.
Quick Facts
- Plant type
- Shrub
- Mature size
- 6 ft tall, 6 ft wide
- Growth rate
- Slow
- Sun
- Full sun
- Water use
- Very low
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Flower color
- Yellow-green (nonshowy)
- Foliage
- Coarse gray-green
- Evergreen / Deciduous
- Evergreen
- Thorns / spines
- None
- Litter level
- Low
- Pool area
- Great
- Maintenance
- Low
- Privacy value
- Medium
- Shade value
- Low
- Native
- Sonoran native
About Jojoba
Jojoba is the quiet workhorse of a native planting plan. It grows slowly into a dense 6-foot mound of leathery, coarse gray-green leaves that stay on the plant all year, and it does it on very low water with no thorns and very little litter. AMWUA rates it hardy to about 20°F, and the spring flowers are yellow-green and deliberately unshowy — this plant earns its place on texture, structure and reliability rather than color. That combination makes it unusually good around pool decks and along walkways where cleanup and safety matter, and AMWUA also flags it as rabbit resistant. Two honest limits: it is slow, so a small nursery plant takes patience to read as a real shrub, and AMWUA flags it as allergenic, which is worth weighing before massing it along a patio or entry used by allergy-sensitive people. Give it the full 6-foot footprint at planting and it will hold that shape for decades with almost no intervention.
Best uses: Native evergreen foundation shrub, low informal screening and massing, clean pool-area planting, thornless filler in very-low-water desert beds
AE Designer Opinion
Design Uses
- Evergreen foundation planting under windows and along walls
- Clean, thornless, low-litter pool-area planting
- Informal low screening and bed massing
- Native desert compositions with boulders and decomposed granite
- Low-water turf conversions needing year-round structure
- Walkway-adjacent planting where thorns would be a problem
Care & Maintenance
- Very low water once established; deep and infrequent, never daily
- Deep-soak through the first summer to build roots, then taper hard
- Hand-prune lightly to shape; avoid shearing into formal geometry
- Space plants on 6-foot centers to respect mature width
- Keep mulch and granite pulled back slightly from the base
- Almost no seasonal cleanup required — litter is low year-round
Common Homeowner Mistakes
- Overplanting to make the bed look full now, then thinning it out later
- Shearing it into a formal box instead of letting the natural mound develop
- Overwatering a very-low-water native on a shared shrub valve
- Expecting a flowering accent from a plant grown for evergreen texture
- Massing it heavily right against an entry used by allergy-sensitive household members
Placement Warnings
⚠ AMWUA flags Jojoba as allergenic — consider that near patios, entries and windows. Growth is slow, and each plant needs room for a 6-foot mature spread.
- AMWUA flags it as allergenic; weigh placement near patios, entries and bedroom windows
- Allow a full 6-foot mature width per plant instead of tight spacing
- Slow growth means it will not fill a screening gap quickly
- Low shade value — do not use it where you actually need canopy
- Flowers are nonshowy; choose something else if the bed needs color
AE reviews final placement based on sun, irrigation, drainage, mature size, and overall design.
Pairs Well With
- Arizona Rosewood
- Brittlebush
- Baja Fairy Duster
- Damianita
More Arizona Plants Like This
Ready to Build Your AE Plant Wishlist?
Add Jojoba and your other favorites to your wishlist, then send it to the AE design team for the final plant palette.