Broad Leaf Myoporum

Broad Leaf Myoporum (Myoporum parvifolium 'Broad Leaf') is the native groundcover to use when you want soil covered fast and then forgotten. It runs flat at about 15cm high and spreads to roughly 2m across, throwing small white starry flowers through the warmer months. Planted a metre apart it closes into a continuous mat within a season, and it holds a slope, tolerates salt and lives on very little water.

Why you'll love it

• It covers ground quickly. Fast growing by nature, so a bare bed or a raw batter stops looking bare within one warm season.
• It stays genuinely flat. At around 15cm high it never obstructs a view, a path edge or a driveway sightline.
• Tough in every direction. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, heat tolerant, salt tolerant and content on poor soil.
• It suppresses weeds. A closed mat shades the soil, so the weeding load drops sharply after the first year.
• Bees use the flowers. Small white blooms through the warmer months feed native bees and butterflies.

Where it works best

Groundcover and mass planting. Plant 1m apart for a dense mat. That spacing closes over within a season and gives each plant room to root down as it runs.

Retaining walls and slopes. The trailing stems root as they spread, which binds a batter or a cut bank and softens the top of a wall. Keep to 1m spacing on a slope.

Coastal gardens and rockeries. Salt tolerance makes it a front line coastal groundcover, and it spills naturally over rock and stone edges.

Growing Broad Leaf Myoporum in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the densest, flattest mat. It suits warm temperate, Mediterranean, arid, cool temperate and subtropical gardens, and it is frost hardy once established, so its range is genuinely national.

Soil. Almost any soil that drains. Sand, gravel and poor ground are fine. On heavy clay, raise the bed, because the one thing it will not take is sitting wet through winter.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer while the runners spread, then only in long dry spells. It needs very little feeding: a light application of a low phosphorus native fertiliser in spring is enough.

Pruning. Shear back by about a third in early spring if the centre opens up or stems climb over a path. It reshoots readily.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in three sizes: tube stock, 140mm plants in a pack of ten, and 200mm plants in a pack of six. Tubes are the usual choice for large areas, since myoporum spreads so quickly that starting small costs almost nothing in time. The 200mm plants give faster cover on a small bed or a wall top.

Plants travel flat and settle quickly. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Expect runners to move within four to six weeks in warm weather, and a closed mat by the end of the first season. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Choosing the right groundcover for your garden
• Browse the full groundcover range
• Plants for retaining walls and slopes

Common questions

How many plants do I need per square metre?

At 1m spacing you need one plant per square metre, which closes over in a season. For faster cover on a bank, tighten to 70cm and allow two per square metre.

Can I walk on it?

Only occasionally. It takes the odd step for weeding, but it is not a lawn substitute and regular traffic breaks the stems and opens holes in the mat.

Is it safe around pets and livestock?

The foliage of myoporum is toxic to livestock, so do not plant it in or near a paddock. It is not on our pet friendly list, so keep it away from animals that graze on garden plants.

How do I stop it spreading past the bed?

Trim the runners back at the edge two or three times a year. It spreads above ground rather than by suckers, so containing it is a shearing job, not a digging one.