Hello Gardeners, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. Fatsia japonica, which doesn’t have a common name but is just called fatsia, is a striking plant to grow in shade. Like nandina, it does branch if you make heading cuts to the stem, the stems just get longer, and you can easily have a ten foot tall, dramatic multi-trunked specimens with very large, ivy-shaped, dark evergreen leaves. If you want it to stay smaller and more dense, just make heading cuts on a third or