The lilly pilly is the default hedging plant in Australia, and for good reason - it is native, evergreen, fast, tolerant of clipping, and it grows almost everywhere people live. It is also sold under three different botanical names in more than forty cultivars, most of which look nearly identical in a pot and behave completely differently at maturity. Getting the choice right at the start saves years of fighting a plant that was never suited to the space.
Quick facts
| Detail | What to expect in Australia |
|---|---|
| Botanical names | Syzygium, Acmena and Waterhousea |
| Origin | Australian native rainforest and creek-margin plants |
| Size range | 1 m shrubs to 15 m trees, depending on cultivar |
| Position | Full sun to part shade |
| Soil | Most soils with reasonable drainage. Tolerates clay |
| Growth rate | Fast - 500 mm to 1 m a year when young |
| New growth | Pink, bronze or red flushes several times a year |
| Best climates | Brisbane, coastal NSW, Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide |
Choose by mature size, not by looks
This is the decision that matters. Every lilly pilly in a nursery looks like a tidy shrub. Some finish at a metre and some at fifteen.
| Unclipped height | Cultivars | Suits |
|---|---|---|
| 1 m | Allyn Magic, Little Tom | Low borders and edging |
| 2-3 m | Baby Boomer, Backyard Bliss, Aussie Compact | Small gardens, low hedges, pots |
| 3-4 m | Cascade, Bush Christmas | Informal flowering hedge, feature shrub |
| 5-6 m | Resilience, Straight and Narrow, Pinnacle | Standard boundary hedge, 2-4 m |
| 8-10 m | Riberry, Francis's lilly pilly | Shade trees, large screens |
| 10-15 m | Weeping lilly pilly (Waterhousea) | Tall screens above 5 m |
A plant held permanently well below its natural size needs constant clipping and tends to go woody and bare at the base. Choose a cultivar whose natural height is close to what you want, and the maintenance drops dramatically.
Psyllid: the one pest that matters
Lilly pilly psyllid is a tiny sap-sucking insect that attacks soft new growth and leaves permanent pimple-like bumps and distortion. It is the reason older lilly pilly hedges look permanently damaged, and it hits hardest on clipped hedges, which are constantly producing the new growth it targets.
The modern cultivars are bred for resistance and the difference is dramatic. Resilience, Backyard Bliss, Cascade, Straight and Narrow and weeping lilly pilly all resist it. Cheap unnamed seedling lilly pillies generally do not, which is why they are cheap.
If you are planting a hedge that has to look good for a decade, buy a named resistant cultivar. It is the single most important decision in this whole guide.
Where they grow in Australia
- Brisbane, Gold and Sunshine Coasts, northern NSW - native range. Fastest growth and easiest care.
- Sydney and coastal NSW - excellent, and the most planted hedge in the city.
- Melbourne and Adelaide - grow well in sheltered positions. Young plants can be frost-marked, so plant in spring.
- Perth - performs with reliable summer water; sandy soils dry faster than eastern clay loams.
- Frost-prone inland districts - marginal. Repeated hard frost damages young growth.
Planting a hedge
- Plant in autumn or spring.
- Space by cultivar - 800 mm to 1 m for a dense screen from a mid-size variety, 1.5 m for larger ones, 500 mm for compact forms.
- Dig wide, not deep - two to three times the root ball width at the same depth.
- Improve heavy clay with compost and gypsum, and plant slightly raised.
- Mulch to 75 mm along the whole row, clear of the stems.
- Water deeply two or three times a week through the first two summers. This is the biggest factor in how fast a hedge closes.
Buy the largest stock your budget allows if privacy is the goal. Advanced plants shorten the wait by years.
Pruning
Lilly pillies reshoot readily from old wood, which makes them unusually forgiving. Trim two or three times through the growing season rather than once hard - typically spring, midsummer and early autumn.
Keep the base wider than the top. A hedge clipped vertical or narrower at the bottom loses light down low and goes bare exactly where you wanted screening. This is the most common lilly pilly complaint and it is entirely a pruning fault.
Flowering cultivars such as Cascade are the exception - prune those once after flowering, since constant shearing removes the buds.
Ongoing care
Watering
More than most screening plants, particularly in the first two years. These are rainforest and creek-margin plants and they thin out under prolonged drought. Deep soaking once or twice a week beats daily light watering.
Feeding
A clipped hedge regrows constantly and feeds heavily. Apply a controlled-release or organic fertiliser in early spring and again in midsummer. Yellowing lower leaves in a hedge almost always mean hunger rather than disease.
Common problems and fixes
- Pimpled, distorted new leaves is psyllid. Prune off affected growth, and replace unnamed plants with a resistant cultivar if it is persistent.
- Bare base on a hedge means the sides were clipped vertical. Taper the hedge wider at the bottom.
- Yellow leaves throughout usually means nitrogen shortage in a frequently clipped hedge. Feed and mulch.
- Sudden leaf drop follows drought stress or hot dry wind. Deep soak and mulch heavily.
- Purple staining on paving comes from the fruit. Keep hedges back from light-coloured paths and driveways.
- Scale and sooty mould occur in still shaded positions. Treat with horticultural oil.
- Plants failing in wet ground is root rot. Lilly pillies tolerate clay but not standing water.
Frequently asked questions
Which lilly pilly is best for a hedge?
Resilience for a standard two to four metre boundary hedge, Straight and Narrow where width is limited to about a metre, and Backyard Bliss or Baby Boomer for smaller gardens. All are psyllid resistant, which matters more than any other feature.
How fast does lilly pilly grow?
Fast - 500 millimetres to a metre a year when young and well watered. A hedge planted at one metre spacing typically closes into a solid screen in two to three years in Brisbane or Sydney.
What causes bumps on lilly pilly leaves?
Lilly pilly psyllid, a sap-sucking insect that attacks soft new growth. Damage is permanent on affected leaves. Modern cultivars such as Resilience, Cascade and Backyard Bliss resist it; cheap unnamed seedlings generally do not.
Why is my lilly pilly hedge bare at the bottom?
Because the sides have been clipped straight up or narrower at the base, so light cannot reach the lower foliage. Taper the hedge so it is widest at the bottom and it will fill in over a season or two.
How far apart should I plant lilly pilly?
800 millimetres to a metre for a dense hedge from a mid-size cultivar. Compact varieties go at around 500 mm, larger ones at 1.5 metres. Individual specimen trees need three to five metres.
Do lilly pillies have invasive roots?
The larger species have substantial root systems, so allow three to four metres from pipes, slabs and paving. Clipped hedges of compact cultivars have correspondingly smaller roots and are much less of a concern.
Ready to plant?
We grow over forty lilly pilly cultivars, from one-metre borders to advanced screening stock. Browse our hedging and screening collection, or mature plants for immediate privacy.
Going deeper: how the varieties compare, the guide to psyllid resistance, and weeping lilly pilly for tall screens.
