The Finescape Lomandra, otherwise known as the Lomandra Confertifolia ‘Finescape’ or Chinese Fringe Flower ‘Carolina Moonlight’, Carolina Moonlight Chinese Fringe Flower, Loropetalum chinense ‘NCI 002’, 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 blue-green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, this is exactly what we’ll cover in this Finescape Lomandra Care Guide. So let’s dive in.
The basic care guidelines you need to remember for your Finescape Lomandra are the following:
- Water: The Finescape Lomandra grows best with watering each week. Increase the frequency of watering when it gets hot.
- Light: Keep your Lomandra Confertifolia ‘Finescape’ in an environment where it can receive partial shade to full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Finescape Lomandra in soil with moist but well-draining to well draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand, chalk, and loam.
And that’s practically it! If you keep these three factors in check, your Finescape Lomandra will likely have all it needs for it to survive and even thrive.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Finescape Lomandra belongs to the Hamamelidaceae family, the genus Loropetalum and the species Chinense, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Lomandra Confertifolia ‘Finescape’.
As with other Loropetalum’s, the Finescape Lomandra is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Finescape Lomandra is a plant native to the Japan (Honshu, China to NE. Thailand and Kyushu) and Taiwan.
You might be wondering why your Finescape Lomandra’s native region is important. Well, if you know where your plant originally came from, you’ll know which environment conditions it prefers, and with it, knowledge on how to replicate it at home.
With this in mind, the Lomandra Confertifolia ‘Finescape’ will be most used to the heat zones in the 8 – 9 region, as the plant hardiness level falls between 7b, 7a, 8b, 8a, 9b, 9a and the ideal climate zone is between 6, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Finescape Lomandra is a relatively moderate grower, which makes things somewhat easy for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, what size of Finescape Lomandra are we talking about? What can you expect in terms of height, spread and spacing? Let’s dig in…
The Lomandra Confertifolia ‘Finescape’ can grow up to 5′ – 6′ (150cm – 180cm) in 5′ – 6′ (150cm – 180cm) and 5′ – 6′ (150cm – 180cm) in 5′ – 6′ (150cm – 180cm).
These dimensions make the Finescape Lomandra 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.
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 36″ – 48″ (90cm – 120cm) free so the Finescape Lomandra can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Finescape Lomandra 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 Lomandra Confertifolia ‘Finescape’ 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 average needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Finescape Lomandra 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 moist properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
However, in our experience, the best solution to knowing the right amount of water for your Finescape Lomandra is with the ‘thumb’ technique. Basically, you insert your finger into the soil, and based if you feel the soil moist or dry, you determine if it needs any water, which is the most appropriate way to go about watering your leafy friend.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Finescape Lomandra 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, chalk, and loam.
This is why most experts agree that the Finescape Lomandra requires soil with clay, high organic matter, loam (silt), and sand, 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 Finescape Lomandra requires partial shade to 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 Lomandra Confertifolia ‘Finescape’ 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 Finescape Lomandra 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 Finescape Lomandra to flower around the spring months from April to June (spring).
The Finescape Lomandra produces some beautiful brown, or cream/tan and white flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Finescape Lomandra have a beautiful blue-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 Lomandra Confertifolia ‘Finescape’ to be around (1-3 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Finescape Lomandra is well known for its tolerance to drought and animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Lomandra Confertifolia ‘Finescape’ will be fine.
Garden
How should you then organize your garden to include your new Finescape Lomandra? Here are some recommendations by expert gardeners.
Most Lomandra Confertifolia ‘Finescape’ owners agree that this shrub will look great in most rustic, mediterranean and tropical gardens of all types.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of coastal garden, city and courtyard, and in informal and cottage styles.
In particular, the Finescape Lomandra’s best location within your garden is in hedges and screens, small gardens, beds and borders, patio and containers, and in wall-side borders, others use it for landscaping in a coastal exposure, mass planting, border, container, or a poolside.
Companion Plants
Finescape Lomandra’s do well with some other plants beside it. One good companion plant is the Nandina, which will pair up nicely with your leafy friend.
Others consider that a nice Liriope will work well too, so choose whichever you find works best for you!
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 Finescape Lomandra in your garden or home.
