Sumac ‘Gro-Low’

* Common name: Sumac ‘Gro-Low’

* Botanical name: Rhus aromatica ‘Gro-Low’

* What it is: ‘Gro-Low’ is a low, spreading native shrub with glossy leaves that colonizes to form a dense covering a little more than a foot tall, making it an ideal plant for covering slopes and other big, open areas.

Gets small yellow flowers in early spring, and some clusters of small red fruits in fall. Foliage turns deep red-orange in fall before leaves drop for winter. Leaves look a bit like this sumac’s cousin – poison ivy – but it’s not toxic or allergenic at all.

* Size: Grows 15 to 20 inches tall and can eventually spread 6 to 8 feet wide. Shoots emerge from roots (“suckers”) that keep spreading until plants hit a boundary or are stopped with an annual severing.

* Where to use: As a covering on sunny to partly shaded slopes or massed over other big, open areas. Use ‘Gro-Low’ in beds by itself or possibly under tall trees as opposed to mixed gardens with other plants due its spreading and suckering.

* Care: Keep plants damp the first season, then watering is usually not needed once roots establish. Fertilizer also usually not needed. Sumac is a very low-care plant that’s good at getting by on its own. Prune or thin branches at end of winter, if needed, and shovel out any suckers you don’t want at any time. Watch for captured blowing trash; the thicket-like growth of ‘Gro-Low’ often grabs paper, bread wrappers, milk jugs, etc. that are blowing by.

* Great partner: None. Other than serving as a shrubby groundcover under tall trees, ‘Gro-Low’ is best used in stand-alone masses.