Best Hedging Plants

How to choose from this shortlist

Decide the finished height before you look at a single photo; it rules most plants in or out. For borders under a metre, Japanese box, Korean box, English box and the compact coastal rosemarys hold a crisp line on one or two clips a year. Between one and two metres, 'Min a Min' murraya, 'Aussie Compact' lilly pilly and the larger westringias such as 'Naringa' fill the classic front garden bracket. From two metres up you are into the serious screeners: Lilly Pilly 'Resilience', Sweet Viburnum and its 'Dense Fence' and 'Quick Fence' selections, Photinia 'Red Robin' and box leaved privet. For tall and narrow spaces, 'Straight and Narrow' and 'Pinnacle' hold a screen around a metre wide.

Match the hedge to your climate

Every plant here is proven somewhere; the trick is pairing it with your somewhere. In humid subtropical and tropical gardens, lilly pillies and murraya are in their element, and modern psyllid resistant lilly pilly selections stay clean without spraying. In cool temperate and frost prone districts, box, photinia, privet and westringia are the safe bets, with murraya the one to avoid. In Mediterranean and dry inland gardens, coastal rosemary and the box family deliver a tight hedge on a fraction of the water a lilly pilly wants. On exposed coast, westringia is close to indestructible, which is why it appears here in eight forms.

Spacing and how many plants to order

Measure the run, divide by the spacing, and add one so a plant sits at each end.

• Formal box borders: 30cm to 40cm apart. A 6m edge takes 16 to 20 plants.
• Westringia and murraya hedges to 1.5m: 60cm to 70cm apart.
• Lilly pillies, viburnum, photinia and privet at 2m to 3m: 80cm to 1m apart. A 12m fence line takes 13 to 16 plants.
• Columnar lilly pillies: 60cm to 80cm apart for a narrow screen that closes fast.

Resist planting tighter to speed things up; crowded hedges thin at the base within a few years.

Training a dense hedge from year one

Water new plants deeply twice a week through their first summer and feed in early spring and late summer with a controlled release fertiliser. Then trim early and lightly: tipping the new growth every few months from the first season builds the dense base that cannot be added later. Once the hedge reaches height, clip after each growth flush, which means two or three times a year for the fast growers and once for box. Our lilly pilly care guide covers feeding and pruning timing for the native half of this page.

Common questions

What is the fastest hedge on this page?

Sweet Viburnum and the fastest lilly pillies ('Express' earns its name) can close a 2m screen in around two years from 200mm pots. Expect to trim them two or three times a year once they get there.

Which hedge needs the least work?

Coastal rosemary held near its natural 1.2m to 1.5m, or Japanese box kept at knee height. Both ask for one or two light clips a year and no summer watering once established.

What should I plant near a pool or on the coast?

Westringia first: it takes salt spray, wind and reflected heat without browning. Lilly pillies also behave well poolside, with contained roots and soft leaf drop.

Is forty plants the whole hedging range?

No. The complete hedging and screening collection runs to hundreds of options including bamboo and conifers, and the full lilly pilly range goes deeper on varieties and sizes.