The Round-Leaved Beech, otherwise known as the Fagus Sylvatica ‘Rotundifolia’ or Blue Fescue ‘Beyond Blue’, Festuca glauca ‘Casca11’ PP23307, is a rather well known ornamental grass plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and slow growth, this ornamental grass 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 Round-Leaved Beech Care Guide. Ready? Let’s go!
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Round-Leaved Beech are the following:
- Water: The Round-Leaved Beech requires moist yet porous soil.
- Light: Keep your Fagus Sylvatica ‘Rotundifolia’ in an environment where it can receive partial to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Round-Leaved Beech in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, chalk, and loam.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Round-Leaved Beech this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Round-Leaved Beech belongs to the Poaceae family, the genus Festuca and the species Glauca, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Fagus Sylvatica ‘Rotundifolia’ (FA-gus sil-VAT-i-ka).
Other common Poaceae species include Virginia Bluebells, Golden Hakonechloa, Foxtail Grass, Exochorda ‘Blizzard’, Calamagrostis X Acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’, Golden Japanese Forest Grass, Miscanthus Sinensis ‘Strictus’, Japanese Silver Grass ‘Morning Light’, Phyllostachys Aurea, Calamagrostis X Acutiflora ‘Avalanche’, Panicum virgatum ‘Haense Herms’ and Clump-Forming Bamboo.
As with other Festuca’s, the Round-Leaved Beech is a deciduous plant, which means it will shed its leaves annually once autumn comes.
Growing Region
The Round-Leaved Beech is a plant native to the North East Spain to North West Italy and Southern France.
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 Round-Leaved Beech is most accustomed to, thus where it can most favorably.
With this in mind, the Fagus Sylvatica ‘Rotundifolia’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 1 – 8 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 4a, 4b, 5b, 5a, 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a, 8a, 8b, 9b, 9a 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.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Round-Leaved Beech is a relatively slow grower, which makes things easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, how big does the Round-Leaved Beech actually get? What should you expect in terms of size? Let’s dive right in…
The Fagus Sylvatica ‘Rotundifolia’ can grow up to 9″ – 1′ (22cm – 30cm) in 9″ – 1′ (22cm – 30cm) and 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm) in 1′ – 2′ (30cm – 60cm).
These dimensions make the Round-Leaved Beech a relatively medium ornamental grass 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 18″ (45cm) free so the Round-Leaved Beech can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Round-Leaved Beech 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 Fagus Sylvatica ‘Rotundifolia’ requires moist yet porous soil.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively low needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Round-Leaved Beech 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 properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
But, if you want a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to watering your Round-Leaved Beech 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 Round-Leaved Beech needs or does not need water, every time.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Round-Leaved Beech prefers to have soil with good drainage properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand, chalk, and loam.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Round-Leaved Beech requires partial to full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this ornamental grass will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Fagus Sylvatica ‘Rotundifolia’ in from little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to dappled or moderate shade (under other plant’s canopy), to full and direct sun (more than 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being a deciduous plant, the Round-Leaved Beech 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 summer (early, mid, late), the fall, and during the winter.
Flowers
You can expect your Round-Leaved Beech to flower around the spring and in the summer months from April to June (spring), and from July to September (summer).
The Round-Leaved Beech produces some wonderful green, bluegold/yellow, and purple/lavender flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Round-Leaved Beech have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Round-Leaved Beech is well known for its tolerance to rocky soil, dry soil, drought and animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Fagus Sylvatica ‘Rotundifolia’ will be fine.
Garden
Does your Round-Leaved Beech have any garden recommendations? Does it serve any gardening purposes? Here’s how you can get the most out of your new plant.
Most Fagus Sylvatica ‘Rotundifolia’ owners agree that this ornamental grass will look great in most cottage and rustic gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of informal and cottage, city and courtyard, gravel and rock garden, and in mediterranean garden styles.
In particular, the Round-Leaved Beech’s best location within your garden is in ground covers, banks and slopes, beds and borders, and in patio and containers, others use it for landscaping in a specimen,
Conclusion
And we’ve come to an end. Fortunately, that’s everything you need to know about your Round-Leaved Beech to keep it safe and sound in your garden or home. Enjoy planting!
