Myoporum

About Myoporum

Myoporum is the groundcover we specify when a modern bed needs real green coverage without height. It is native to Australia, evergreen, and fast: each plant trails out to roughly 6 feet wide while staying around a foot tall, with bright-green medium-textured foliage and small white flowers in spring. AMWUA rates it hardy to about 20°F and lists its water use as low to moderate — noticeably thirstier than a creosote or a brittlebush, and not a plant to sell yourself as zero-water. It handles full sun and takes partial sun in the Valley's reflected-heat conditions. Litter is low, there are no thorns and no irritating sap, and the flat habit sits well against pool coping, pavers and low seat walls. The one warning AMWUA states plainly is the one that kills these plantings: it may die if it is overwatered. In practice that means drainage is the whole game. Heavy clay, a low spot that collects runoff, a valve shared with turf, or emitters buried under a mulch dam will all produce the same outcome — sudden dieback in patches that never fill back in. Give it drainage, its own appropriately scheduled valve, and room for that 6-foot spread, and it does exactly what it promises.

Best uses: Flat, fast, bright-green coverage in modern beds — filling between boulders, spilling over low walls, edging pool decks and softening wide expanses of granite

AE Designer Opinion

Design Uses

• Flat green coverage in modern and desert-modern beds
• Spillover on low seat walls, planters and raised borders
• Pool-deck edge planting where a thornless, low-litter groundcover is needed
• Filling between boulders and softening wide granite expanses
• Slope and bank coverage where drainage is naturally good
• Clean transition strips along walkways and driveways with maintained edges

Care & Maintenance

• Plant into well-drained soil; amend or regrade before planting if water stands in the bed
• Run it on its own low-to-moderate zone with deep, spaced irrigation rather than daily sprinkles
• Cut back irrigation in cool months and after significant rain
• Space plants for the full 6-foot spread instead of crowding for quick coverage
• Trim the leading edges seasonally to keep it off coping, pavers and walkway edges
• Watch for soft, yellowing patches — the usual cause is too much water, not too little

Common Homeowner Mistakes

• Overwatering for fast fill, which is the single most common cause of sudden dieback
• Planting it in a poorly drained bed or a low spot that holds monsoon runoff
• Crowding plants at tight spacing to cover the bed in one season
• Putting it on the same valve as desert shrubs or a turf spray zone
• Burying emitters under a mulch dam so water pools at the crown
• Letting it grow unchecked over pool coping and walkways instead of trimming the edge each season