Native pohinahina deftly veils ugly fences, even holds in eroding slopes

Question: Can pohinahina be grown as a vine? I have an ugly chain-link fence and want to go native and xeric! Can it take strong wind and drought? — Mahalo, M.B.G., Hawaii Kai

Answer: Yes! Great artful idea and use of native plants.

Pohinahina, or beach vitex, is a great native plant, and it is tough and adaptable. It grows fairly rapidly if you treat it right and prepare your soil well. It is a versatile and pretty Hawaiian plant.

It has silvery leaves, lavender flowers and a vining, sprawling growth habit. It makes a great ground cover or hedge, or it can be trained like a vine to grow up a trellis or a sturdy fence like your chain link.

My akamai sister Mimi has it in her front planter, and her growing conditions are harsh: hot, sunny and sometimes very windy. Her orchids and water lilies were getting battered by the wind, so she performed a horticulture experiment. The planter always needed cutting back, and she needed a wind-screening, view-enhancing vine on her fence. She trained some of the tendrils over, and we found out that this works well.

This has also been done at Kokua Market in Moiliili, on a chain-link fence between the market’s parking lot and the neighboring apartment. The silvery leaves, slightly purple new stems and lavender flowers make for an attractive combination.

We find this plant at the beach and in lowland dryland forests. Nurseries now grow it and you can plant it. Mark your calendar for the Halawa Xeriscape Garden plant sale on Aug. 6. This plant should be available. Plant experts will be on hand to talk story about growing and caring for natives, and there are many educational classes and family activities, too.

Scientists call it Vitex rotundifolia, and it is in the Verbenaceae plant family. It has several Hawaiian names including pohinahina, polinalina and kolokolokahakai.

The silvery foliage is fragrant when cut or crushed. The lavender flowers are about an inch long and grow in clusters at the tips of the stems. You can add the flowering tips, or liko (leafy bud tips), for lei making.

It grows best in full sun and well-drained soil. Keep lawn grass away for best plant growth and easy maintenance.

When my husband and I were first dating, he lived out on the beach in Waialua. During high surf the sand would wash away. Some people would put out sandbags every winter or when big waves and high tides were predicted. One akamai neighbor nurtured and encouraged the native pohinahina. It held the sand better than any man-made devices.

It is a great erosion-control plant on a slope too steep for mowing grass. (It’s also a noise, time and gas saver to have a ground cover like this instead of grass that has to be mowed or trimmed.) Once well established and thick, it will keep out most weeds. Remove the weeds and make sure your soil drains well. Four-inch pots planted a foot apart and watered well to establish will make an attractive and low-water-use landscape. Control the weeds and water daily at first, and after the plants are thick, just water as needed.

It is attractive sprawling over pohaku and boulders or over unattractive concrete walls. It will soften and silver up your garden. You can also grow it in large concrete or clay pots, alone or mixed with other native plants or with silvery herbs like lavender, rosemary and thyme.

Grow it from seeds or cuttings, or buy plants from your favorite garden shop or landscape nursery.

Heidi Bornhorst is a sustainable landscape consultant specializing in native, xeric and edible gardens. Reach her at heidibornhorst@gmail.com.