WateringTimesWatering plan, $19
Podocarpus latifolius, WUCOLS IV

How often to water yellow wood podocarpus in California

In July on the north-central coast, established yellow wood podocarpus in loam needs a deep watering about every 13 days: about 55 gallons each time under a 10 foot canopy, about 29 gallons a week. Yellow wood podocarpus is a slow-growing, upright evergreen conifer from South Africa, usually seen around 40 feet in gardens. Its short, narrow leaves carry a bluish gray powder that rubs off to show green beneath, and new flushes come in pale or bronzy. With age, peeling bark shows on the trunk. It takes sun or part shade and regular water.

TreeRated for 2 of 6 zones

How often to water yellow wood podocarpus, month by month

Your city
Canopy width
10 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 yellow wood podocarpus 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 under the branches, 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 canopy width

A tree with its canopy width marked across the widest branches and the circle under it shaded blue

Measure across the branches, from the tips of the outer leaves on one side to the tips on the other. A tape works, or pace it out.

Water the whole circle under the branches, shown in blue. The gallons here cover that circle.

A wider canopy means more gallons each watering, not more waterings. While the tree is young, measure again each spring.

How to tell it needs water

  • Soil dry a foot down under the canopy in summer signals yellow wood podocarpus is ready for a deep soak
  • New flushes wilting at the tips in a hot spell can indicate a dry root zone
  • Inner leaves yellowing and dropping in a long dry summer can follow drought stress
  • Yellowing foliage over waterlogged soil points to poor drainage

How to water it

  • Soak the ground from near the trunk out past the branch tips with drip or soakers
  • Wet the soil about 18 inches deep, then let the upper few inches dry before watering again
  • Plant in sun or part shade in soil that drains
  • Mulch beneath the canopy to keep moisture even
  • Widen the watered area slowly as this slow grower fills out

Through the seasons

Water a young tree regularly through its first several summers, since it grows slowly and roots take time to spread. Established trees still prefer regular water through the dry season. It is evergreen, adding new pale or bronzy growth in flushes. It is hardy to about 25 to 30 degrees F, so shelter young trees in cold spots. WUCOLS rates yellow wood podocarpus moderate water on the north-central coast and on the south coast. WUCOLS marks it as not suited to South Inland, the high desert or the low desert, and has not evaluated it for the Central Valley.

In pots

Yellow wood podocarpus grows slowly, so a young one can live for years in a large container on a patio. Use a well-drained mix. Check the mix two inches down and water once that layer is dry, letting the surplus run out. In hot weather a pot may need water every few days. Empty the saucer each time. In winter, water only when the mix has dried, and shelter the pot during hard frost.

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

WUCOLS lists Yellow Wood Podocarpus as not evaluated for the Central Valley zone, so no monthly figure is computed here.

Monthly water need by climate zone

Yellow Wood Podocarpus: gallons per square foot per month, by WUCOLS climate zone

MonthN. CoastC. ValleyS. CoastS. InlandHi DesertLo Desert
Jan0.37–0.78–––
Feb0.53–0.81–––
Mar0.87–1.15–––
Apr1.18–1.4–––
May1.46–1.61–––
Jun1.61–1.74–––
Jul1.61–1.98–––
Aug1.49–1.86–––
Sep1.24–1.49–––
Oct0.87–1.15–––
Nov0.47–0.84–––
Dec0.31–0.65–––
Year12–15.5–––

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 evaluated in the Central Valley, like yellow wood podocarpus. Plants that drink alike can share one valve and one schedule.

Hawthorn MapleAcer crataegifoliumnot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingMountain MapleAcer glabrumnot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingMiyabe MapleAcer miyabeinot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingEverglades PalmAcoelorraphe wrightiinot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingPink CedarAcrocarpus fraxinifoliusnot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingYellowwoodAfrocarpus falcatus (Podocarpus falcatus)not rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingNew Caledonian PineAraucaria columnaris (A. cookii)not rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingFormosa Sugar PalmArenga englerinot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingNeemAzadirachta indicanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingBismarck PalmBismarckia nobilisnot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingAmerican HornbeamCarpinus caroliniananot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingJapanese HornbeamCarpinus japonicanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingAmerican YellowwoodCladrastis kentukeanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingPagoda DogwoodCornus alternifolianot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingGiant DogwoodCornus controversanot rated, Central Valleyno Central Valley ratingButterfly PalmDypsis lutescens (Areca)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 yellow wood podocarpus, 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 much water does yellow wood podocarpus need per day?

In July on the north-central coast, established yellow wood podocarpus needs about 4.1 gallons a day under a 10 foot canopy and about 16 gallons a day under a 20 foot canopy. Give it in deep waterings spread days apart rather than a little every day, so the whole root zone gets wet.

Does watering for yellow wood podocarpus change across California?

Yes. WUCOLS rates yellow wood podocarpus separately for each of the six California climate zones: moderate water in the North-Central Coastal zone, not evaluated in the Central Valley zone, moderate water in the South Coastal zone, not suited to this region 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.

How tall does yellow wood podocarpus get?

In the wild it can reach 100 feet, but in gardens it is rarely much over 40 feet. It grows slowly and stays narrow and upright. That makes it useful for tall screens.

Why are the leaves gray?

A fine powdery coating gives the leaves their blue-gray look, and green shows where it wears away. New growth may look pale or bronzy. This is normal coloring, not stress.

Does yellow wood podocarpus make fruit?

Male and female cones are on separate trees. Female trees bear small bluish cones on fleshy stalks. Many garden trees are female plants grown from cuttings.

Is yellow wood podocarpus toxic?

Parts of podocarpus fruits are slightly toxic, and some sources list the genus as toxic to dogs. Keep pets from chewing it. Do not eat the fruit raw.

Does it need shade?

It grows in sun or part shade. Shade slows soil drying, so check moisture before watering.

More plant watering guides

Basket PlantForest SedgeAmerican HornbeamJapanese HornbeamChilean Feather BambooAmerican YellowwoodAnemone ClematisBlackbrush

Sources