Plant Care Guides / Outdoor & Coastal / Trees
Indigenous | Easy Care | Tree
The white milkwood is one of the great trees of the South African coast, and it is right at home here in St Francis Bay. It forms a dense, rounded, evergreen canopy of dark green, leathery leaves on a sturdy trunk, and over time it develops into a handsome shade tree that anchors a garden the way few other trees can. It flowers in summer and autumn with small, greenish-white blooms (they are not pretty, and they do not smell great, but the birds and insects love them), followed by small, fleshy, purplish-black berries that keep the birds coming through to spring.
It handles wind, salt air and coastal exposure well, which is why it is found growing naturally in dune forests and along shorelines right along this coast. It is drought-hardy once established, and its dense canopy makes it one of the best windbreak and screening trees available for coastal gardens. It is also a natural firebreak. One important thing to know: the white milkwood is a protected tree under South Africa's National Forests Act. It is illegal to cut down, significantly prune, damage or disturb a milkwood without a permit from the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment. This applies to trees in your garden, not only in the wild. If you are planting one, you are planting a legacy, these trees can live for hundreds of years.
10 to 15 m tall with a wide, dense, rounded canopy at maturity. Can be kept smaller with careful, permitted pruning.
Slow. This is not a tree for the impatient. If you want a large milkwood quickly, you will need to invest in a bigger specimen from the nursery.
Shade tree, windbreak, screen, coastal garden feature, dune stabilisation, natural firebreak. It works well as a standalone specimen or planted in a group for a thicket effect.
Full sun to semi-shade. It grows naturally in both exposed coastal positions and in the shelter of dune forest, so it is adaptable.
It grows in the sandy, alkaline coastal soils we have here without complaint. It also handles heavier soils inland. No special soil preparation is needed, though a generous helping of compost in the planting hole gives young trees a better start.
Water regularly for the first year or two while it establishes its root system, especially through the dry summer months. Once established, it is properly drought-hardy and needs little to no supplementary watering.
Feed young trees with a balanced slow-release fertiliser in spring and autumn for the first few years to support establishment. Mature trees do not need feeding.
Light shaping and the removal of dead or damaged branches is fine, but remember the legal protection. Any significant pruning of a milkwood requires a permit. If a milkwood on your property needs major work, contact a qualified arborist who can advise on the permit process.
Ask about availability. We keep a changing range of trees and large shrubs. WhatsApp us to check what is currently in stock, or visit the nursery and we will help you choose the right tree for your spot.
