New Mexican Privet
Foresteria neo-mexicana
8-15 feet high x 8-10 feet wide
Zone 4
Full Sun to Part Shade
Out of stock
Also known as New Mexico Olive. If you like the look of aspens but just can’t get them to survive, we recommend this as an alternative. “Limbing up” to expose the smooth whitish-blond trunks gives an aspen-like look. We like it for its own look and high desert-edge heritage. It really performs under hot, dry and windy conditions! Yellow flowers (on female trees) precede leaves in the spring followed by small dark blue fruit in August—a real treat for birds. The leaves are small, light green ovals and wind tolerant. In the 12 years we’ve been growing this species we’ve seen limited deer damage. An excellent choice for a windbreak.
Throughout this site, the following are used as guidelines for watering established plants:
These truly xeric plants can live with our 12 inches of natural annual precipitation and only need a winter watering during a multi-year drought, but they will thrive with a monthly watering. Overwatering will kill some of these. These plants are adapted to intermittent deep
watering with soil drying to a depth of a few inches between waterings. Watering frequency may be every couple of weeks during the active growing season and maybe only one winter watering for optimal care. These plants need regular watering somewhat like a bluegrass lawn so that
they never dry to depth in the root system during the active growing season, and need occasional winter watering to prevent root dessication and resultant plant
death. About sizes of our plants:
Sizes indicated with a # are roughly the equivalent in gallonage; so a #2 is about a 2 gallon pot size; b&b stands for balled and burlapped.