Conifers

How to choose a conifer

Match the form to the job. For formal verticals, Pencil Pine and Mediterranean Cypress make the classic Italianate columns at 8m to 10m, with Skyrocket and Spartan junipers doing the same work at half the scale. For a fast evergreen hedge, nothing in the range beats Leighton Green, which puts on up to a metre a year and clips into a solid wall from 2m to 6m; Emerald Green Arborvitae is the neat, slower alternative that holds 3m to 4m with barely any trimming. For gold tones and topiary, Golden Biota and Lemon Cypress take clipping well, while All Gold shore juniper covers dry banks at ankle height. And for feature trees with real presence, the Australian araucarias, Hoop Pine, Norfolk Island Pine and Queensland Kauri, grow into grand, long lived specimens. The clipped and columnar types are gathered in the conifers for formal gardens selection.

Where conifers work in Australian gardens

Cool temperate and frost prone gardens are conifer heartland: Melbourne, Canberra, the tablelands, the Adelaide Hills and Tasmania suit almost everything here, and hard frost is no threat. In the Mediterranean climates of Perth and Adelaide, cypress and junipers rank among the most drought tolerant formal plants you can buy, holding their colour through dry summers that finish softer hedges. In the humid subtropics, give conifers full sun, open air movement and sharp free draining soil, and lean on the araucarias, which are the local heroes; Norfolk Island Pine also shrugs off front line coastal salt and wind anywhere in the country. The one condition no conifer forgives is waterlogged soil, which kills more of them than any climate does.

Planting and spacing

Full sun and drainage are the two non negotiables. Dig each hole twice as wide as the pot and no deeper, water in well and mulch, keeping mulch off the trunk. For a Leighton Green hedge, plant 75cm to 1m apart and expect a clipped 3m screen in about three years. Pencil pines flanking a gate or lining a drive go 1m to 1.5m apart; groundcover junipers 80cm apart to close within two seasons. Water deeply twice a week through the first summer, after which established conifers largely look after themselves on rainfall outside the driest months. Feed once in early spring with a controlled release fertiliser.

Pruning: the one rule that matters

Never cut back into bare brown wood. Cypress, juniper and most other conifers do not reshoot from old wood, so a hedge cut hard past its green growth stays brown in that spot permanently. The discipline is little and often: two or three light trims through the growing season, always leaving green foliage behind, with the face of a hedge kept slightly wider at the base so the bottom stays in light. Decide the final size early and never let the plant get more than about 30cm past it. Whole books have been written on hedge repair; none of them beat not needing it.

Common questions

How fast does Leighton Green grow?

Up to a metre a year once established in good conditions, which is why it remains the quickest way to put a tall evergreen wall on a boundary. Budget two to three trims a year to keep it crisp. If that maintenance puts you off, compare slower options in the hedging and screening range.

How tall do pencil pines get?

Around 8m to 10m over a couple of decades, but only about 60cm to 1m wide, which is why they fit gardens their height suggests they should not. A light annual trim holds them at 4m to 6m indefinitely.

Will conifers cope in Brisbane humidity?

The araucarias thrive, and Leighton Green, junipers and the thujas perform in full sun with good airflow and sharp drainage. Avoid tight, shaded, damp corners, which invite foliage diseases in any humid climate.

Can advanced conifers be delivered?

Yes. The range includes advanced and ex ground specimens well beyond standard pot sizes. Everything is delivered Australia wide with delivery from $29.95 and no minimum order; advanced and large stock is freighted at cost with specialist transport quoted. Every plant carries the 30 day healthy plant guarantee.