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Ficus microcarpa 'Green Mound' (Green Mound Fig) - A dense low mounding shrub that can reach 6 feet tall by as wide but easily kept much lower. It has thick smooth dark green elliptical leaves that are 3 to 4 inches long by half as wide with a blunt pointed tip.
Plant in full sun to light shade and irrigated occasionally - relatively dry growing once established and hardy to around 30° F with some leaf damage much below this so best in mild coastal southern California gardens. It makes a nice small, mounded shrub or a low hedge with very little need to be pruned and works well as a bonsai specimen.
Ficus microcarpa is native to mountains and plains below 6.200 feet throughout China, Bhutan, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, New Guinea, Sikkim, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam and Northern Australia. The genus name Ficus comes from the ancient Latin name for figs and their edible fruit and the specific epithet means "small fruit". This plant is sometimes sold as Ficus 'Green Island' a plant that stays a bit lower and has more rounded leaves. The Florida Nurserymen and Growers Association named Ficus 'Green Island' as a Plant of the Year for the year 2000 but it was not clear which form was being honored as both plants were being sold under this name at the time. It is also sometimes listed as a cultivar of Ficus microcarpa var. crassifolia or Ficus retusa var. crassifolia but these names have been synomized with Ficus microcarpa. The variety 'Nitida' is a common tree in Southern California but this 'Green Mound' form is rarely seen here though is used extensively in Florida. We first saw this attractive plant when touring gardens Florida in 2015 with our friend John Greenlee (AKA the Grassman) and he successfully arranged to get plants sent to us that we eventually sold in 2022.
The information displayed on this page about Ficus microcarpa 'Green Mound' is based on the research we have conducted about it in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.
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