Plants for Cool Climates

Evergreen bones or seasonal colour

Cool climate gardens are built in layers, and the first choice is how much of yours stays green in winter. Evergreens carry the structure: Magnolia 'Little Gem' makes a 5m screen or feature with fragrant white flowers, camellias flower through the coldest months, and Japanese box, sweet viburnum and westringia hold hedges tight year round. Deciduous plants do the opposite job. A Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) reaches about 5m in 15 years, colours brilliantly in autumn and then lets winter sun into the garden, and crepe myrtles add months of summer flower before their own autumn display.

The honest trade-off: an all evergreen garden looks tidy but static, while an all deciduous one is bare sticks from June to September. Most good southern gardens run roughly two thirds evergreen structure with deciduous features placed where you want summer shade and winter light.

Where cool climate plants thrive

This collection is built for Melbourne, Canberra, Hobart, Ballarat, Orange, the Adelaide Hills, the Southern Highlands and the Blue Mountains, anywhere winter mornings sit near or below zero. More than a thousand of the plants here are rated frost hardy, and the rest tolerate at least light frost. Microclimate still matters: cold air drains downhill and pools in hollows and behind solid fences, so put your most borderline plants on slopes or near the house wall, and expect the open lawn to frost hardest. Summer is the other test. Inland cool climate towns swing past 35 degrees Celsius in January, which is why drought tolerant natives and Mediterranean plants like olives and lavender feature so heavily here.

Planting and spacing with real numbers

Autumn and spring are the planting windows, and bare winter is fine for deciduous trees while they are dormant. Dig twice the pot width, no deeper, water in well and mulch 75mm deep, keeping mulch off the stems.

• Formal low hedges. Japanese box at 30cm to 40cm apart, clipped once or twice a year.
• Flowering hedges. Camellias such as 'Black Tie' at 1m apart for a 2m to 2.5m screen that flowers in winter.
• Privacy screens. Sweet viburnum at 1m apart, held at 2m to 3m; Magnolia 'Little Gem' or 'Teddy Bear' at 1.5m; Thuja 'Smaragd' at 60cm for a narrow 4m column screen in dry-summer areas.
• Groundcovers. Native violet at 300mm centres in moist shade; star jasmine at 1m centres to cover a fence or bank.

Care through a frosty year

Time your pruning around the frost calendar. Pruning in autumn pushes soft new growth that the first freeze burns, so save the main cut for late winter or just after flowering. Protect newly planted evergreens with a stake and hessian screen for their first winter or two, water deeply once a week through summer while plants establish, and feed once in spring with a controlled release fertiliser, or a low phosphorus native fertiliser for the natives. Hydrangeas and Japanese maples appreciate afternoon shade in hot districts; camellias want acidic, well drained soil and resent lime.

Common questions

What grows fastest for privacy in cold areas?

Sweet viburnum is the standout: frost hardy, fast, planted at 1m spacings and easily held at 2m to 3m. For narrow spaces, Thuja 'Smaragd' at 60cm apart builds a tight 4m screen. The full hedging and screening range can be filtered by climate and mature height.

Will these plants really survive frost?

Over a thousand here are rated frost hardy and the remainder handle light frost, but every plant is more vulnerable in its first two winters, before roots are established. Plant in spring in severe frost districts so plants face their first winter mature, and check each product page for its tolerance listing.

Do Australian natives suit cool climate gardens?

Plenty do. Westringia, lomandra, bottlebrush, coast banksia and native violet all carry frost hardy ratings, and southern natives generally cope with cold better than their tropical reputation suggests. Match the species to your district rather than assuming native means tender.

Which flowering trees handle cold winters?

Crepe myrtles are the reliable summer flowering choice, frost hardy and happy from Melbourne north, with the crepe myrtle range running from 3m compacts to 6m avenue trees. Magnolias flower from late winter, and the camellia collection covers the coldest months when little else performs.

How does delivery work for cold region orders?

Everything here is delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.