The Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum, otherwise known as the Viburnum Trilobum ‘Compactum’ or Pansy, Garden Pansy, is a rather well known perennial plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its average maintenance and moderate growth, this perennial 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.
Fortunately, taking care of your Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum is not too difficult – as long as you follow our guidelines in this Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum Care Guide. Now let’s get started.
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum are the following:
- Water: The Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum needs evenly spread moist soil – try to avoid letting the soil dry out.
- Light: Keep your Viburnum Trilobum ‘Compactum’ in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum in soil with moist but well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, loam, and clay.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum belongs to the Violaceae family, and the genus Viola, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Viburnum Trilobum ‘Compactum’ (vy-BER-num try-LOH-bum kom-PAK-tum).
As with other Viola’s, the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum is a deciduous plant, which means it will shed its leaves annually once autumn comes.
Growing Region
The Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum is a plant native to the Europe and Asia.
Knowing your plant’s native region is very useful, as it can give you tips on which environment is best for your Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum. If you keep it in mind, you can try to replicate these conditions at home, and you’ll likely end with a healthier plant.
With this in mind, the Viburnum Trilobum ‘Compactum’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 6a, 6b, 7b, 7a, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10b, 10a and the ideal climate zone is between 1, 1A, 1B, 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, A1, A2, A3, H1, H2.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, how big does the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum actually get? What should you expect in terms of size? Let’s dive right in…
The Viburnum Trilobum ‘Compactum’ can grow up to 6″ – 10″ (15cm – 25cm) in 6″ – 10″ (15cm – 25cm) and 10″ – 1′ (25cm – 30cm) in 10″ – 1′ (25cm – 30cm).
These dimensions make the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum a relatively small perennial 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.
Also, expect it to grow in a wonderful compact shape, which is something worthwhile to remember when making your garden landscape plans.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 10″ – 12″ (25cm – 30cm) free so the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum is a fairly complicated plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a not so straightforward watering schedule and somewhat irregular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Viburnum Trilobum ‘Compactum’ needs evenly spread moist soil – try to avoid letting the soil dry out.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum in soil with moist but 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 moist properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
In our experience, the famous ‘thumb’ or ‘finger’ test is what works best for the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum since with it, you will be able to give it the right amount of water, every time – regardless of the environment or placement where you do decide to keep it.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum prefers to have soil with good drainage, and moist properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, loam, and clay.
This is why most experts agree that the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum requires soil with high organic matter, 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 Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this perennial 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 Viburnum Trilobum ‘Compactum’ 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 a deciduous plant, the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum will shed its leaves annually once autumn comes.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum to flower around the fall, winter and in the spring months from October to December (fall), from January to March (winter) and from April to June (spring).
In particular, this perennial is well known for its showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum produces some beautiful white, or gold/yellow,red/burgundy, bluepurple/lavender, and white flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
In particular, they have a simple arrangement with a alternate organization in its leaves.
You can expect the leaves from your Viburnum Trilobum ‘Compactum’ to be around (1-3 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum is well known for its tolerance to animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Viburnum Trilobum ‘Compactum’ will be fine.
Garden
Does your Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum have any garden recommendations? Does it serve any gardening purposes? Here’s how you can get the most out of your new plant.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of informal and cottage, city and courtyard, and in traditional garden styles.
In particular, the Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum’s best location within your garden is in patio and containers, beds and borders, edging, and in underplanting roses and shrubs, others use it for landscaping in a border,
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 Dwarf Cranberry Bush Viburnum in your garden or home.
