The Brave River Texas Ranger, otherwise known as the Leucophyllum Langmaniae ‘Brave River’ or Japanese Privet ‘Rotundifolium’, Wax Leaf Privet ‘Rotundifolium’, is a rather well known shrub plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and moderate growth, this shrub will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
This is why all the topics you need to know in order to achieve this will be covered in this Brave River Texas Ranger Care Guide. Ready? Let’s go!
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Brave River Texas Ranger are the following:
- Water: The Brave River Texas Ranger grows best with watering each week. Increase the frequency of watering when it gets hot.
- Light: Keep your Leucophyllum Langmaniae ‘Brave River’ in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Brave River Texas Ranger in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, chalk, and loam.
And as with many other plants, these are the only three care factors you need to remember to make sure your Brave River Texas Ranger is, for the most part, healthy and well to survive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Brave River Texas Ranger belongs to the Oleaceae family, the genus Ligustrum and the species Japonicum, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Leucophyllum Langmaniae ‘Brave River’.
As with other Ligustrum’s, the Brave River Texas Ranger is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Brave River Texas Ranger is a plant native to the South East China to Temp. Eastern Asia.
As a rule of thumb, we recommend to always keep in mind your plants’ native region and environment, since these are the conditions that your Brave River Texas Ranger is most accustomed to, thus where it can most favorably.
With this in mind, the Leucophyllum Langmaniae ‘Brave River’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 7 – 10 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 7b, 7a, 8b, 8a, 9b, 9a, 10b, 10a and the ideal climate zone is between 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, H1, H2.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Brave River Texas Ranger is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But what exactly does this mean for your Brave River Texas Ranger? How large a pot should you consider, how tall, how wide can it get? Let’s jump in…
The Leucophyllum Langmaniae ‘Brave River’ can grow up to 3′ – 5′ (90cm – 150cm) in 3′ – 5′ (90cm – 150cm) and 2′ – 3′ (60cm – 90cm) in 2′ – 3′ (60cm – 90cm).
These dimensions make the Brave River Texas Ranger a relatively medium shrub compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 24″ – 36″ (60cm – 90cm) free so the Brave River Texas Ranger can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Brave River Texas Ranger is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Leucophyllum Langmaniae ‘Brave River’ grows best with watering each week. Increase the frequency of watering when it gets hot.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively low to average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Brave River Texas Ranger in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage, and occasionally dry properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Brave River Texas Ranger then you should consider the famous ‘finger’ test. To perform this test, you just need to put your finger in your plant’s soil and determine if it’s moist or not. If it is, then don’t water; if it isn’t, then please do. In any case, this test will allow you to know if your Brave River Texas Ranger needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Brave River Texas Ranger prefers to have soil with good drainage, and occasionally dry properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, chalk, and loam.
This is why most experts agree that the Brave River Texas Ranger requires soil with loam (silt), sand, clay, high organic matter, and shallow rocky, which will give you the right conditions it needs.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Brave River Texas Ranger requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this shrub will do well as long as you keep it in partial to full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Leucophyllum Langmaniae ‘Brave River’ in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Brave River Texas Ranger will be present year round in your garden.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Brave River Texas Ranger to flower around the spring months from April to June (spring).
In particular, this shrub is well known for its repeat flowering, long bloom season and showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Brave River Texas Ranger produces some beautiful blue, or white flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Brave River Texas Ranger have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement with a opposite organization in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Leucophyllum Langmaniae ‘Brave River’ to be around (3-6 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Brave River Texas Ranger is well known for being able to attract butterflies, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for drought conditions, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Leucophyllum Langmaniae ‘Brave River’ will be fine.
Garden
Now, let’s talk garden and how your Brave River Texas Ranger will look best in it.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of prairie and meadow styles.
In particular, the Brave River Texas Ranger’s best location within your garden is in patio and containers, beds and borders, hedges and screens, and in small gardens, others use it for landscaping in a privacy screen,
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Brave River Texas Ranger in your garden or home.
