Nandina domestica Little Flick
Notify Me'Little Flick' was bred by Peter Trewavas and is grown for a long red season: the new growth comes through a vivid red in spring and holds that colour right through to autumn against darker mature foliage, rather than reddening only in winter as older nandinas do. The leaves are fine and divided on short upright canes. It is evergreen and naturally compact.
That long colour window makes it a genuine alternative to a flowering shrub in a small garden. Plant it as a low clipped-looking band without the clipping, in a courtyard bed, beneath a window, or in a pot on a deck. It pairs cleanly with grey-leaved plants and dark green hedging, and needs no seasonal attention.
Site it in full sun to bring the red out fully, in free-draining soil with compost worked in. Part shade produces a greener, softer plant. It is hardy, copes with dry spells once settled, and stays where it is planted, building slowly from the base. Space plants 50 to 60 cm apart for a continuous low run.
Grows to around 0.7 m tall and 0.6 m across.
Trimming: Remove the oldest cane or two at ground level in winter to keep new red growth coming from the base. This variety needs no shaping, and cutting across the top of it produces a flat, unnatural look with bare legs underneath.
Fertilising: One application of slow-release fertiliser as growth starts in spring, followed by a compost mulch. Feeding harder gives you more green leaf and less of the red the plant is grown for.
Watering: Keep it watered for its first two seasons. After that it manages on rainfall in most districts, with pots the exception.
Pest Control: Largely trouble free. Watch for scale on the canes in still, sheltered spots, and treat with horticultural oil if it builds up.
Disease Management: Poor drainage causing root rot is the main thing to avoid, so plant high on heavy clay. Older leaves can spot in humid weather with no real effect. Any berries that form are best kept well away from aviaries, poultry runs and pets inclined to eat them.
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