How to Care for Oleander

Oleanders are classified as the species Nerium oleander and are low-maintenance flowering shrubs that grow easily in regions with mild winters. Oleanders are very tolerant of drought, heat, salt and wind, making them excellent shrubs to grow in coastal landscapes. With little care, your oleander shrubs can grow up to 20 feet tall and wide, depending on the cultivated variety.

Garden hose or watering can

Flowering shrub all-purpose fertilizer

Pruning shears

Light blanket (optional)

Water your oleander shrub only during times of drought or prolonged dry spells. Oleanders even survive droughts, but grow much better if you provide a deep watering once each week during dry conditions. Provide water to moisten the soil down and around the oleander's root system.

Feed your oleander shrub once each year in the spring with an all-purpose fertilizer made for flowering shrubs. Follow the application directions on the fertilizer label.

Prune your oleander once every year in early spring to remove all cold-damaged and overgrown or old wood. In the summer, remove the spent flowers to promote longer blooming of the oleander shrub. Cut back any suckers that emerge from the base of the oleander to encourage healthy blooming during the spring and summer. Prune back the stem tips right after the oleander is finished blooming to promote healthy branching.

Protect your oleander shrub from the cold when temperatures drop to or below 20 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover the oleander with a light blanket at night and remove it in the morning when the temperatures warm again.

Select a planting site for your oleander shrub that receives partial to full sunlight and has well-draining soil. Oleanders can grow well beside a south- or west-facing wall of a building or house, but they cannot tolerate wet sites where water pools. You can grow oleanders in a variety of different soil types, just as long as the soil drains well.

Beware of scale pests and oleander caterpillars infesting your shrubs. Oleander caterpillars are especially destructive and can quickly defoliate your oleander shrub. The most common plant disease to affect oleanders is Botryosphaeria dieback, a fungal disease that causes the shoots and branches to turn blackish-brown and die. Consult your local agricultural extension service to properly diagnose an insect or disease in your oleanders, as well as for the proper treatment method.

Oleanders are poisonous to humans and animals. Don't plant oleander shrubs where children can access them easily, because consuming or just chewing a twig or leaf from an oleander shrub can require hospitalization.