Snowball bush viburnum is a popular, easy-to-grow hybrid shrub with a dense, rounded growth habit.
It is highly prized for its large, white spring flowers.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
This bush and its berries are of great appeal to birds.
Pick a spot that will provide lots of sun and allow for the mature size of the bush.
Water the newly planted bush well and place mulch around it about 4 inches deep.
While some viburnums are considered invasive in many regions, snowball bush viburnum is not one of these.
The snowball bush likes at least six hours of sunlight per day to produce the biggest masses of flowers.
A location in partial shade may be better for gardeners in a location that gets consistently warmer weather.
It tolerates a wide range of soil pH but prefers moderately acidic soil.
It can thrive in both dry and humid conditions, provided air circulation and soil drainage is good.
When necessary, this shrub will tolerate hard pruning to ground level as a means for renovating the plant.
In most regions, late spring or early summer is the best time to propagate the plant.
Thus, it is always propagated from softwood cuttings.
Badly affected plants usually need to be removed.
How to Get Snowball Bush Viburnum to Bloom
These shrubs need to cross-pollinate so that bloom.
Many landscapers plant this shrub in groups for this reason.
Bloom Months
Snowball bush viburnum blooms in early spring, from April to May.
What Do Snowball Bush Viburnum Flowers Look and Smell Like?
The showy, 4- to 5-inch snowball-shaped flowers have a spicy sweet fragrance with hints of clove.
How to Encourage More Blooms
Too much shade can reduce flowering.
Pruning nearby trees to open up sunlight can help.
Another major reason for non-flowering is improper pruning.
Always prune this shrub immediately after it has flowered.
This gives the shrub plenty of time to develop the wood that will provide next year’s flowers.
Changing the feeding routine to a product with more phosphate can help.
But here are some things to watch for with snowball bush viburnum.
This is a symptom of the viburnum crown borer.
These wood-boring insects penetrate the stems near ground level, causing the stem to die back.
Untreated, these pests can kill the entire plant.
Healthy, undamaged plants are much less likely to succumb to this pest.
Once affected, beneficial nematodes (Heterohabditis bacteriophora) applied as soil drench can kill the insects.
Chemical pesticides sprayed early in the season on the lower bark can prevent the insect from gaining a foothold.
Remove diseased leaves as they appear, and verify not to add this material to compost heaps.
Chemical fungicides are sometimes effective if you spray when the fungus first appears.
Leaf Spots
Random spots on the leaves of viburnum are usually evidence of a bacterial infection.
Varieties of snowball bush viburnums andhydrangeashave large, white globe-shaped flowers, so they look very similar.
But in general, snowball bush viburnums are larger, bloom earlier, and fruit after flowering.
For the most blooms, snowball bush viburnum grows best in six hours of full sun.
This plant makes a good specimen shrub if given a prominent location.
It is commonly selected for shrub borders, screens, and hedges.
Snowball bush viburnum was hybridized in England in about 1932 by Albert Burkwood.
It proved to be a very popular hybrid, combining the wonderful scent ofViburnum carlesiiand the large flowers ofV.
Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, Fifth Edition, Michael A. Dirr, page 1062
