Plants for Arid and Semi Arid Climates

Start with your winter, not your summer

Heat tolerance is common in this collection. Frost hardiness is what separates the plants that thrive inland from the ones that merely survive, because most arid and semi arid towns freeze on clear winter nights. The workhorses handle both: olives, pomegranate, pencil pine, Spartan juniper, lomandras, westringias, creeping boobialla and grass trees are all recorded as frost hardy as well as drought tolerant. A second group, including bougainvillea, blue chalk sticks and other soft succulents, tolerates light frost only, so give them a warm north facing wall or overhead cover. Young Queensland bottle trees also need frost protection for their first few winters, even though established trees cope.

The other genuine trade-off is speed against water. Fast growers like Westringia 'Zena' reach their metre in a season or two but appreciate an occasional deep drink to look their best. The slowest plants here, grass trees among them, ask for almost nothing once established. Our drought tolerant range extends well beyond this collection if low water use is your main goal.

Where arid climate plants earn their keep

These are the plants we recommend for Mildura and the Riverland, Broken Hill, Port Augusta, Kalgoorlie, Longreach and the inland slopes and plains of New South Wales, anywhere rainfall is unreliable and evaporation is high. They also suit gardeners in Perth and Adelaide dealing with dry Mediterranean summers on sandy soil, and anyone on town water restrictions who wants a garden that does not depend on the hose. Many are Australian natives selected for exactly these conditions, and the native plant range holds hundreds more. For structure, a Grass Tree (Xanthorrhoea glauca) gives sculptural blue green foliage on a plant that is genuinely at home in dry country.

Planting and spacing in dry country

Autumn is the best planting window inland: the soil is still warm, winter rain does the establishment watering for you, and roots are settled before the first hot spell. Dig each hole twice the width of the pot and no deeper, shape a shallow watering basin about 40cm across around the stem, and mulch 75mm deep, keeping mulch clear of the trunk. Gravel mulch suits succulents and grass trees better than organic mulch, which can hold moisture against the crown.

• Groundcovers. Creeping boobialla at 1m centres knits over quickly; blue chalk sticks at 40cm centres for a dense blue carpet.
• Borders and mass planting. Lomandra 'Lime Tuff' at 50cm centres, French lavender or Westringia 'Zena' at 60cm for a low hedge.
• Screens. Pencil pine and Spartan juniper at 1m apart for a formal screen; olives at 3m for an informal grove or windbreak.
• Fruiting hedge. Pomegranate at 1.5m apart, clipped or left loose.

Watering and feeding once established

Water deeply and rarely. A long soak once a fortnight in summer grows deep roots; a daily sprinkle grows shallow ones that cook in January. Hold that routine through the first two summers, then most of this collection will get by on rainfall plus the odd bucket in a heatwave. Feed natives with a low phosphorus native fertiliser in spring, everything else with a controlled release fertiliser at the same time, and stop watering succulents almost entirely through winter. If your winters are cold, check the frost hardy collection before adding anything borderline.

Common questions

Which screening plants handle both drought and frost?

Pencil pine holds 5m tall by barely 1m wide planted at 1m spacings, and Spartan juniper does the same job at 5m by 1.2m. For a broader screen, olives planted 3m apart and held at 3m to 4m with an annual prune make a tough, silver leaved windbreak.

Are Australian natives always the best choice in dry areas?

Not automatically. A rainforest lilly pilly is a native and will sulk at Broken Hill, while an olive from the Mediterranean will thrive. Choose by tolerance, not origin: the natives that belong here, like westringia, lomandra and grass trees, are listed for arid and semi arid climates specifically.

How slow are grass trees really?

Slow. Trunks extend a centimetre or two a year, so a plant with half a metre of trunk is decades old. Buy the size that suits the space now rather than waiting for a small one to catch up.

Can I grow fruit in an arid climate?

Yes, with the right species. The Kalamata olive fruits reliably on low water, pomegranate reaches about 4m by 3m and is frost hardy, and citrus manage well where you can commit to regular deep watering. The full olive tree range covers table and picual style varieties.

How does delivery work to inland areas?

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