Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-072
Gorse
Ulex europaeus
Gorse is a genuine nitrogen fixer with the strongest stated windbreak and hedge use in this group, plus edible flower buds and shoot-tip tea, but it needs neutral to slightly acid soil and dislikes alkaline ground, and its distribution depends on limited seasonal extremes with 500 to 1500 mm of rain - it cannot survive arid climates or regions with hot summers and cold winters in the same year. High oil content in its foliage and seed also makes it highly flammable; it destroyed the town of Bandon, Oregon in 1936.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 5–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Dry · Well-Drained
Vertical layer
Shrub- Soil pH
- 5–7
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 5 ft
- Mature spread
- 5 ft
- Plant spacing
- 20–24 in
- Root type
- Tap
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Agarita
Alloberberis trifoliolata
Agarita is a dense, spiny-leaved evergreen shrub of rocky limestone hills, slopes and thickets from south Texas through the Trans-Pecos to…
Shrub · USDA 7–9
American Beautyberry
Callicarpa americana
American Beautyberry is an arching deciduous shrub of rich woods, moist thickets and swamp edges across the southeastern and south-central…
Shrub · USDA 6–10
American Black Currant
Ribes americanum
American black currant is a multi-stemmed deciduous shrub native to the cooler parts of eastern and central North America, from Alberta to…
Shrub · USDA 3–7
American Elderberry
Sambucus canadensis
American Elderberry gives two harvests a year - creamy flower clusters in June for cordial, fritters and tea, and purple-black berries in…
Shrub · USDA 4–8
American Hazelnut
Corylus americana
American Hazelnut is a thicket-forming shrub that bears small, thick-shelled nuts good raw or cooked, and it pollinates itself, so a single…
Shrub · USDA 4–9
American Plum
Prunus americana
American Plum forms dense thorny thickets by suckering from its own roots, spreading itself into a hedge across most of temperate North…
Shrub · USDA 3–8
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference