Evergreen Shrubs

How to choose an evergreen shrub

Three questions sort this entire collection. First, mature size: check the height and width on each listing and match it to the job, because a shrub that wants to be 3m will never be happy clipped at 1m, and the fight will cost you two prunes a year for the life of the plant. Second, growth rate: fast growers give quick cover but need trimming two to four times a year, while slower varieties hold a tidy shape with a single annual prune. Third, position: most hedging and border shrubs want at least half a day of sun, though there are dependable choices for shaded beds too.

The main groups in the range

The hedging staples are here in depth: lilly pillies led by Lilly Pilly Resilience, sweet viburnum, murraya, photinia and box, the plants that build most Australian green walls. The native contingent is even larger, with more than fifty grevilleas plus bottlebrush, banksia, tea tree, westringia and correa bringing flowers, toughness and honeyeaters. Then come the classic flowering exotics: camellias, gardenias, azaleas, abelia, Indian hawthorn, lavender and hibiscus, along with foliage colour from nandina and loropetalum. Whatever the style of the garden, its backbone is somewhere in these three groups.

Where evergreen shrubs work across Australia

• Tropical and subtropical gardens. Murraya, gardenia, hibiscus, ixora and the lilly pillies power through heat and humidity. Choose psyllid resistant lilly pilly selections in humid areas.
• Warm temperate and coastal gardens. The widest choice in the country. On the coast itself, lean on westringia, banksia, Indian hawthorn and other salt tolerant natives for the front line.
• Cool temperate and frost prone gardens. Camellia, azalea, box, viburnum, photinia and lavender all take frost in their stride. Murraya and ixora do not.
• Dry inland gardens. Westringia, grevillea, lavender and rosemary hold their looks on a fraction of the water a lilly pilly needs.

Spacing and planting numbers

For hedges, space plants that finish at 3m or more, like lilly pilly, sweet viburnum and murraya, about 1m apart. Shrubs finishing near 1m to 1.5m, such as westringia and compact Indian hawthorn, go in at 50cm to 70cm, and formal box edging at 30cm to 40cm. Planting tighter than this does not buy a faster hedge, it buys root competition and thin bases by year three. For feature and border planting, set each shrub half its mature width from paths and fences. Water new shrubs deeply twice a week for the first eight to ten weeks, mulch 50mm to 75mm keeping mulch clear of stems, and tip prune young plants early and often to build density from the base.

Care basics for the category

Feed hedges and flowering shrubs in early spring and again in late summer. Natives are the one exception that matters: grevilleas and banksias want a low phosphorus native fertiliser, not the general purpose feed you give the viburnums. Prune flowering shrubs straight after their flush so you never remove the coming season's buds; foliage hedges can be clipped whenever they look shaggy. Camellias, azaleas and gardenias prefer slightly acidic soil, so feed them with a camellia and azalea blend and mulch well.

Common questions

What is the best evergreen shrub for shade?

For genuine part shade, camellias are the standout, flowering through autumn and winter where little else will, with azaleas and gardenias close behind in morning sun positions. Our camellia collection covers both sasanqua and japonica types. Deep, full shade under dense trees is a harder brief, and groundcovers usually beat shrubs there.

Which evergreen shrubs need the least work?

The ones that stop near the size you need. Westringia holds 1m to 1.5m with one clip a year, Indian hawthorn barely needs that, and slower compact lilly pilly selections keep a 2m hedge tidy on two light trims. High maintenance is almost always a size mismatch, not a difficult plant.

What should I plant for a fast screen?

Lilly pilly, sweet viburnum and murraya close a 2m to 3m screen within two to three seasons planted at 1m spacings. The full hedging and screening range lets you filter by height and growth rate, and the lilly pilly care guide covers establishment and pruning timing.

Are native shrubs better than exotics?

Not automatically, but our grevilleas and their fellow natives flower for months, feed the birds and survive on less water once established. The honest trade off is that many natives resent heavy pruning, so give them room to be themselves rather than clipping them into boxes.

How does delivery work for a big border order?

Everything here is delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and no minimum order. Advanced stock is freighted at cost, and every plant carries the 30 day healthy plant guarantee.