It took me a few years to appreciate toyons, with their often gangly branches and irregular forms when newly planted in garden settings. But while walking in a local park at the beginning of the year, I was once again reminded how spectacularly beautiful a toyon can be in the middle of winter, with the sun lighting up the profusion of berries in the high dappled shade of an oak woodland.
Most of the year, toyons recede into the background, with leathery toothed evergreen leaves and attractive gray bark. A toyon can make a wonderful foundation plant, screening plant, or specimen shrub once it outgrows its youthful awkwardness. It's even possible to train a toyon flat against a wall, for a small garden. Most often seen as a multitrunked large shrub or small tree, it needs full sun to light shade to stay healthy. A typical shrub gets 6-8 ft. high and nearly as wide, reaching 20 ft. or so with age.
It's a versatile plant that sustains pollinators in June and July, after spring-blooming plants have faded. Bees and butterflies throng the large clusters of small white flowers at the branch tips. Then, in winter, the branches are laden with bright red-orange or deep golden yellow berries, depending on the variety. Almost all toyons available in nurseries have the red-orange berries; the yellow variety is called Davis Gold. If you're lucky, you'll spot a flock of cedar waxwings visiting your toyon. American robins, bushtits, and other birds also enjoy eating toyon berries.
The deep golden berries of the Davis Gold cultivar of toyon contrast nicely with the clean evergreen foliage.
Native Americans in California did not eat the raw berries, which contain toxins, but they did prepare dried and cooked berries. Several foraging books offer recipes using cooked toyon berries, whose flavor has been described as “cherry pie.” Be sure to collect only from your own garden, or from other gardens with permission.
Almost all toyons sold in nurseries have the brilliant red-orange berries. Only a small handful of named varieties have been selected, and they are difficult to find.
Toyons are susceptible to some of the same pests and diseases as other plants in the rose family, especially in their first couple years. They can also develop problems if they are overcrowded or shorn into a hedge, and if they are too shaded, so be sure to give them plenty of room and enough light. They're a useful plant for a hedgerow or for a natural hedge. To avoid diseases that spread in wet weather, prune (if needed, to shape the plant or guide its growth) in summer so that the cuts can heal cleanly. Toyon is drought-tolerant once established, grows moderately fast, and thrives on neglect. Though it is adaptable to a wide range of conditions, it does need good drainage. If you have heavy clay soil, it will perform better if you plant it on a berm or mound. Monthly summer watering will keep it looking a little better in drought years, but like many natives, it does not need much summer water and will live longer without excess summer water.
Drought-tolerant toyons thrive in full sun or light shade. They are an ideal understory plant for native oaks, as long as the canopy is open enough to provide dappled high shade.
Toyon combines well with other drought-tolerant native shrubs, such as ceanothus or fremontia, as long as it's allowed enough room. You can plant native annuals or short-lived perennials to fill the space around a young toyon.
© 2016 Tanya Kucak