Salal Plant Info Tips On Growing Salal Plants

Salal (Gaultheria shallon) is hardy in USDA zones 5-9. It prefers to be grown in partial shade and planted in a rich, well draining, acidic soil. Water regularly and thoroughly during the dry months. Normally, the only pruning that Salal needs is to remove dead wood or to cut back an overgrown plant in the spring.

How do you grow Salal?
Is Salal easy to grow?
How long does Salal take to grow?
Does Salal grow in shade?
Can you grow Salal from cuttings?
How deep are Salal roots?
Can you eat Salal leaves?
How do you fertilize Salal?
Is Salal an evergreen?
Can you grow Salal indoors?
What is Salal plant used for?
What do Salal berries taste like?

How do you grow Salal?

Salal grown in the sun and poor soil will slowly grow to just 1 or 2 feet tall. Mulch salal with a 3-inch layer of compost topped with 3 inches of wood chips, to discourage weeds, keep soil cooler and help to retain soil moisture. Irrigate salal as needed to keep the soil just moist.

Is Salal easy to grow?

You may be able to grow salal plants in your garden if you live in USDA plant hardiness zones 8 through 10. Growing salal plants also require rich, well-drained, acidic soil. Salal grows best in partial shade, often reaching heights of 5 feet (1.5 m.) or more.

How long does Salal take to grow?

Seedlings grow slowly and require 2-3 years to produce a saleable plant. Even so, it is better to plant container-grown nursery stock with intact underground stems and root systems. Wild-dug Salal does not transplant well. Even if the plant survives, it may take several years before you may witness any new growth.

Does Salal grow in shade?

Salal grows best in partial shade, but is perfectly adaptable to a more open, south-facing sunny location as long as it has good drainage and a dampish root run; but because it can form a thicket it can become invasive.

Can you grow Salal from cuttings?

The University of Washington says that salal is best propagated through rhizome cuttings or seeds. Getting the seed would involved waiting until it fruits, collecting berries, mashing them and spreading the mixture to dry, picking out seeds and starting them.

How deep are Salal roots?

Work the soil to a depth of about 12 inches to give salal roots room to grow, as well as access to nutrients and water once they establish.

Can you eat Salal leaves?

Edibility. Its dark blue “berries” and young leaves are both edible and are efficient appetite suppressants, both with a unique flavor. Gaultheria shallon berries were a significant food resource for native people, who both ate them fresh and dried them into cakes. They were also used as a sweetener.

How do you fertilize Salal?

Provide salal bushes with phosphorus-rich fertilizer in late summer to encourage high berry yield. Use 3 pounds of bone meal for every 100 square feet of the salal patch. Set the bone meal in rings several feet away from each plant, or in bands along the front of each row of bushes.

Is Salal an evergreen?

Salal is a dense, robust, thicket-forming subshrub or shrub, from 1-4 ft. high, with erect or spreading, intricately branched stems which can root when reclining. The large, leathery, evergreen leaves are round to oval in shape and dull green becoming reddish in winter.

Can you grow Salal indoors?

It prefers well draining soil with lots of moisture- think pacific northwest forest floor. Salal makes a great indoor plant alternative! ... Indoors, treat it like a regular old houseplant- water only when necessary.

What is Salal plant used for?

Learning from Puget Sound Native Americans, many herbalists recommend the leaves of salal for use in tinctures and teas because of their astringent effect. The leaves are still advocated to lower bladder inflammation, treat diseases like heartburn, fever, cramping, and also used to reduce inflammation of the sinuses.

What do Salal berries taste like?

The small berries—which ripen in late summer—are a dull blue-black and are also slightly hairy. Berry flavour varies with soil and sun conditions but can be described as an earthy cross between blueberry and blackcurrant.