Wall germander
Teucrium chamaedrys · Lamiaceae
A low, woody evergreen with small, glossy, scalloped leaves like a tiny oak, and spikes of rosy-purple flowers in summer. It clips into a miniature hedge.
- Size
- 12 in tall, 18 in wide
- Zones
- 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Flowers
- Late June to early August
- Pets
- No toxicity recorded
- Job in a bed
- Edging
A bed built around wall germander
The planner designed this bed around wall germander when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) cottage garden in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 715 that suit those conditions and its dry soil, and says below why wall germander stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Wall germander × 11, pink
- 2 Woodland strawberry × 16, white
- 3 Little bluestem 'Standing Ovation' × 1, tan
- 4 Brown-eyed Susan × 3, yellow
- 5 Dwarf English boxwood × 1, dark green leaves
- 6 Wild quinine × 3, white
- 7 Star of Persia × 5, purple
- 8 Dutch iris × 12, blue
Why this plant
- The only spires. The others are open bowls, plumes, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only pink.
Why here
- On the front edge. At 12 in it frames the bed without hiding it, and it is in leaf all season. It finishes 79% of the edge.
- 11 plants in 3 runs (5, 3 and 3). Runs of different lengths make the edge a frame, not a ruled line.
Why now
- In flower for 7 weeks. From late June to early August.
- Part of the bed's peak. With woodland strawberry, little bluestem 'Standing Ovation', brown-eyed Susan and others in early August: 5 kinds at once. No week has more.
- One of two evergreens. They are what the bed has to show from November to March.
Planned as a cottage garden: 35 of the 35 plants (100%), bulbs aside, stand alone or in groups of no more than five, small enough for the kinds to mingle. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 49% of the visual weight and the right half 51%. The longest in flower is woodland strawberry: 16 weeks, from early May to late August.
The planner's own design check: 12 Excellent, 5 Good. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where wall germander goes in a border
At 12 in it belongs at the front of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is low (6 to 12 in).
Its job: edging. A low, neat plant used in short runs of three or five along the front to finish the edge (or, in a formal bed, in one even row).
The dark green counterpart to silver lavender cotton: the two together are the traditional lines of a knot garden. It can replace dwarf boxwood in a sunny, dry place.
- Low clipped hedges and knot gardens
- Edging herb gardens
- Dry, sunny banks
What to plant with wall germander
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- English lavender 'Hidcote': in flower together for five weeks, from late June; a low mound at the foot of its spires; happy in the same dry soil.
- Lavender cotton: in flower together for five weeks, from late June; a low mound at the foot of its spires; happy in the same dry soil.
- Culinary sage: in flower together for two weeks, from late June; a low mound at the foot of its spires; tall enough (24 in) to stand behind it.
Questions about wall germander
Does wall germander need sun or shade?
Wall germander grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day).
It wants dry, sharply drained soil, on the lean side, with no feeding, and little watering once settled. Once settled in, it stands drought.
What zones does wall germander grow in?
USDA zones 5 to 9. It is hardy to zone 5, which means it survives winter nights down to about −10 °F (−23 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does wall germander flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to early August. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 5 | Late June to early August |
|---|---|
| Zone 6 | Late June to early August |
| Zone 7 | Late June to early August |
| Zone 8 | Late June to early August |
| Zone 9 | Mid June to late July |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should wall germander be planted?
12 in (30 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 18 in (45 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 12 in (30 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many wall germander plants do I need?
At 12 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 12 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 11 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 38 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as runs of three or five along the front (or one even row, in a formal bed).
In the bed above, the planner used 11 in three groups.
Is wall germander poisonous to dogs and cats?
No toxicity is recorded for dogs, cats, horses or people, according to NC State Extension.
"Not toxic" is not "edible": a pet that eats a lot of any plant can be sick.
Do deer eat wall germander?
Mostly not. NC State lists it as resistant to deer and rabbits. No plant is proof against a hungry deer in a hard winter, but this one is low on the menu.
What flowers after wall germander?
Wall germander is over by early August. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Lilyturf: from early August to mid September, 16 in tall.
- Sedum 'Autumn Joy': from mid August to mid October, 24 in tall.
- Little bluestem 'Standing Ovation': from early August to mid September, 3½ ft tall.
What does wall germander look like in winter?
Wall germander keeps its dark green leaves all winter, so it is one of the plants that hold a bed together from November to March, when the perennials have gone.
Is wall germander good for bees and butterflies?
Wall germander is visited by bees and butterflies.
In these guides
- Deer-resistant perennials for full sun
- Rabbit-resistant plants
- Drought-tolerant perennials for full sun
- Pet-safe plants for a sunny border
- Plants for butterflies
- Plants for bees
- Low plants for the front of a border
- Evergreen perennials, ferns and grasses
- Plants with spires: vertical accents
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 12 in (30 cm) tall, 18 in (45 cm) wide
- Plant
- 12 in (30 cm) apart
- Height class
- Low (6 to 12 in)
- Place in the bed
- Front
- Flowers
- Late June to early August; upright spires; pink
- Leaves
- Fine texture, evergreen; dark green
- Shape
- Mounding, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 5 to 9
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil
- Lean, dry and sharply drained
- Water
- Low
- Feeding
- None needed
- Family
- Lamiaceae
- Comes from
- Mediterranean areas of Europe, Middle East and Africa
- Attracts
- Bees, butterflies
- Stands up to
- Deer, rabbits, drought, poor soil
Checked against NC State Extension. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.