Empleurum unicapsulare is best planted as an accent plant to display its growth habit and hanging branches. When planting, make sure there is enough space around this buchu to encourage it to grow into a beautiful shrub or small tree. Plant in well-prepared soil, enriched with compost, balanced fertilizer and situated in a sunny spot in the garden.

Buchus naturally occur in a mixed fynbos and ideally should be used in this way in a garden. In your garden, create an interesting bed by planting it with companion plants such as restios, pelargoniums, Helichrysum, Erica, Protea and other buchu species such as Acmadenia mundiana, Adenandra obtusata, Agathosma lanceolata, A. ovata 'Kluitjieskraal ', A. mucronulta, Coleonema album, C. pulchellum and Diosma prama. It can be used as a potplant or as a filler plant, planted in masses, and creates an interesting hedge.

The start of the rainy season is the ideal time to start planting buchus in your garden (May to September). During this time, buchus establish themselves and will thus cope with warm, hot, summer weather and reduced rainfall. Buchus respond to fairly dense plantings, which help to retain soil moisture. An annual mulching of well-rotted compost is advised to reduce weeds and keep the soil temperature low.

Empleurum unicapsulare can be grown from seed or cuttings. Seed capsules are collected when the capsule is dark green and can be stored in a closed brown paper bag. The fresh buchu seed is sown in autumn. The seeds are sown in a tray containing a well-drained medium of equal portions of sand, loam and compost. Use some of the medium to cover the seed and water. Place in a covered area with good light and air circulation. Keep damp. Germination occurs in one to two months.

Young seedlings are pricked out into 0.5 litre bags when four true leaves have developed, using a fynbos medium. Pinch out the growing tips of the seedlings to encourage bushy growth. Seedlings are planted in the garden the following autumn-winter season. Grown from seed, the plant produces flowers after two years.

Buchus grown from cuttings have the advantage of producing a larger flowering plant quicker than seedlings. Cutting material is selected from healthy plants. The ideal cutting is the tip, 50-70 mm in length, taken from the current year's growth. Prepare cuttings by making a clean cut below the node and remove a third of the foliage. Dip the base of the cutting in a rooting hormone. Firmly place the cuttings in a medium of 50% bark and 50% polystyrene. Ideally, these cuttings should now be placed in an well-aerated propagation unit with a bottom heat of 24º C. Rooting occurs in 9-11 weeks. Carefully pot the rooted cuttings using a well-drained, humus-rich, fynbos potting medium (2 parts leaf mould, 1 part coarse sand). Plants will be ready for planting in 7-8 months. Tips of branches can be pinched back to encourage bushy growth. Feed regularly with a well-balanced nutrient. Yellow leaves can be treated with an application of iron chelate.