WateringTimesWatering plan, $19
Ochna serrulata, WUCOLS IV

How often to water bird's eye bush in California

In July on the north-central coast, established bird's eye bush in loam needs a deep soak only about once a month or less: about 8.8 gallons each time for a plant 4 feet across. Bird's eye bush is a slow growing South African shrub, usually 4 to 8 feet tall, with glossy, finely toothed leaves and fragrant yellow spring flowers. The petals fall fast, leaving bright red sepals and glossy black fruits, the look behind its other name, Mickey Mouse plant. Its water needs follow the light: a shaded plant gets by on very little, while one in full sun fills out with some summer water.

ShrubRated for 3 of 6 zones

How often to water bird's eye bush, month by month

Your city
Plant width
4 ft
Your soil

Type your city above and the days between waterings and the gallons appear here, worked out from your city's climate table. Or read the figures by climate zone further down.

Every month, on your water days. The personal plan prints this for bird's eye bush and the rest of your yard, on the days your water supplier allows.Get the plan for $19

How this is worked out: established roots fill the top 1.5 feet of soil, and you water again when that soil has dried halfway. Loam soil holds about 1.5 inches of water per foot. Water the whole area the plant covers, and skip a watering after a good soaking rain.

Which soil do you have?

Dig down a few inches, take a handful of moist soil and squeeze it.

  • Sandy: gritty, falls apart when you open your hand, will not form a ball.
  • Loam: forms a soft ball that crumbles when you poke it.
  • Clay: forms a firm, sticky ball and squeezes out into a ribbon between thumb and finger.

Still not sure? Pick loam. Most garden beds sit between sand and clay.

How to measure plant width

A shrub with its width marked from one side to the other and the circle under it shaded blue

Measure across the plant, from the tips of the leaves on one side to the tips on the other.

Water the whole area the plant covers, shown in blue. The gallons here cover that area.

A wider plant means more gallons each watering, not more waterings. While it is young, measure again each spring.

How to tell it needs water

  • Soil dry 3 inches down beneath a bird's eye bush in full sun during summer means it is ready for a deep soak
  • A sunny plant turning thin and open, with sparse leaves, often needs more summer water, since sun grown plants fill out with some irrigation
  • Old leaves yellowing and falling in early spring, with pink tinged new leaves right behind them, is the normal leaf change, not thirst
  • A shaded plant can go long stretches without irrigation, so find soil dry well below the surface before giving it a soak
  • Yellow leaves dropping in summer, outside the spring leaf change, while the soil stays soggy call for a drainage check before more water

How to water it

  • Water the root zone with drip or a slow hose, covering the soil out to the edge of the branches
  • Soak until the top foot of soil is moist, then let the upper few inches dry before watering again
  • Give a shrub in full sun regular summer soaks so it stays full, and water a shaded plant far less
  • Spread wood chip mulch under the branches, kept a few inches clear of the slender main stems
  • On a clipped hedge, run drip line along both sides of the row and widen it as the hedge thickens

Through the seasons

Water a new bird's eye bush through its first summer, until roots grow out of the nursery root ball. After that, sun and shade set its needs: a shaded plant tolerates very dry soil, while one in full sun stays fuller with some summer water. This semi-evergreen shrub drops old leaves in early spring as pink tinged new ones open. Flowers come in spring, and red sepals with black fruits carry on into summer. WUCOLS rates it low water on the north-central coast and on the south coast, where winter rain covers the cool months. It rates moderate water in South Inland. WUCOLS marks it as not suited to the Central Valley, the high desert or the low desert.

In pots

Bird's eye bush grows slowly, so it can stay in a large pot as a specimen for a long time. Check the mix 2 inches down every few days in summer, and more often in South Inland heat or on a sunny patio. Water until it runs from the drainage holes, then empty the saucer. A pot in shade dries much more slowly, so feel the mix before each watering. In winter, cut back watering and move the pot under cover when frost threatens, since the plant is hardy only to about 27 degrees F.

1 Your climate zone six WUCOLS zones, each from its own reference city
Not ratedWUCOLS does not rate Bird's Eye Bush for the Central Valley zone
A year
no figure
Reference
Sacramento climate table
Counts
Plant need, before sprinkler losses

WUCOLS lists Bird's Eye Bush as not suited to this region for the Central Valley zone, so no monthly figure is computed here.

Monthly water need by climate zone

Bird's Eye Bush: gallons per square foot per month, by WUCOLS climate zone

MonthN. CoastC. ValleyS. CoastS. InlandHi DesertLo Desert
Jan0.15–0.310.78––
Feb0.21–0.320.87––
Mar0.35–0.461.3––
Apr0.47–0.561.61––
May0.58–0.641.95––
Jun0.64–0.692.29––
Jul0.64–0.792.51––
Aug0.6–0.742.33––
Sep0.5–0.61.86––
Oct0.35–0.461.33––
Nov0.19–0.330.9––
Dec0.12–0.260.68––
Year4.8–6.218.41––

How this is worked out: the WUCOLS water rating for each zone times that zone’s climate for the month. A dash means WUCOLS does not rate the plant there. The figures are what the plant uses, before sprinkler losses.

Plants with the same water needs 16

Rated not suited to this region in the Central Valley, like bird's eye bush. Plants that drink alike can share one valve and one schedule.

Chenille PlantAcalypha hispidanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingCopperleafAcalypha wilkesiananot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingYellow Bell BauhiniaBauhinia tomentosanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingMagic FlowerCantua buxifolianot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingClustered Fishtail PalmCaryota mitisnot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingHawaiian TiCordyline fruticosa (Cordyline terminalis)not rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingFilbertCorylus maximanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingPoinsettiaEuphorbia pulcherrimanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingWeeping Chinese BanyanFicus benjaminanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingRubber PlantFicus elasticanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingFranklin TreeFranklinia alatamaha (Gordonia alatamaha)not rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingJungle GeraniumIxora coccineanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingOrange JessamineMurraya paniculatanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingCommon GuavaPsidium guajavanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingOrgan Pipe CactusStenocereus thurberi (Lemaireocereus thurberi)not rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingGiant Bird of ParadiseStrelitzia nicolai (shade in desert)not rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley rating
Minutes for your sprinklers

Turn this into minutes on your water days

Every city page has a calculator that takes bird's eye bush, your sprinkler type and the month, and gives the minutes per water day for that supplier's schedule. Or put it in a zone of the personal watering plan and get all twelve months printed.

Questions people ask

How often should I water bird's eye bush in summer?

In July, established bird's eye bush in loam needs a deep watering about every 27 days on the south coast and about every 9 days in the South Inland zone. Sandy soil holds less water, so waterings come closer together. Clay stretches them. Check the soil before each watering and skip one after a soaking rain.

How much water does bird's eye bush need per day?

In July on the north-central coast, established bird's eye bush needs about 0.3 gallons a day for a plant 4 feet across and about 1.0 gallons a day for a plant 8 feet across. Give it in deep waterings spread days apart rather than a little every day, so the whole root zone gets wet.

Does watering for bird's eye bush change across California?

Yes. WUCOLS rates bird's eye bush separately for each of the six California climate zones: low water in the North-Central Coastal zone, not suited to this region in the Central Valley zone, low water in the South Coastal zone, moderate water in the South Inland zone, not suited to this region in the High and Intermediate Desert zone, not suited to this region in the Low Desert zone. The monthly table above shows how the same rating translates into different gallon amounts as reference evapotranspiration changes.

Why is it called Mickey Mouse plant?

After the yellow petals fall, the sepals swell and turn bright red. Green fruits sit among them and ripen glossy black by late summer. The black fruits read as mouse ears against the red, which gave the shrub its nickname.

Is bird's eye bush invasive?

Birds eat the fruit and spread the seed, and it is considered an invasive weed in Australia and New Zealand. In a garden, seedlings can come up away from the parent plant. Pull them while small, and avoid planting it beside wild land.

Can bird's eye bush grow in shade?

Yes. It flowers best in full sun but still blooms and grows well in shade. A shaded plant also tolerates very dry soil, so it needs far less water than one in sun.

Is bird's eye bush poisonous?

It is listed as possibly poisonous. Keep children and pets from eating the black fruits, and clear fallen fruit from play areas.

Can I grow bird's eye bush as a hedge?

Yes. It takes regular clipping well, so it works as a small formal or informal hedge, and it handles wind and seaside conditions. A sunny hedge stays denser with some summer water.

Why is my bird's eye bush dropping leaves in spring?

Old leaves fall in early spring and new ones replace them right away, flushed pink at first. This is normal and does not call for extra water. If leaves drop with no new growth behind them, check the soil and drainage.

More plant watering guides

Sky Flower VineWandering JewMoses-in-the-CradleWhite CloverCanadian HemlockCardboard PalmCoral VineHeath-Leafed Banksia

Sources