Lemon Frost Leptospermum

Lemon Frost Leptospermum (Leptospermum 'Lemon Frost') is a fast growing native screen that reaches about 2.5m tall and 2m wide, covered in white flowers through spring. The fine foliage smells of crushed lemon when you brush past it. Planted a metre apart it closes into a soft informal screen within two seasons, and it holds up on poor soil, salt wind and frost.

Why you'll love it

• It screens quickly. One of the faster natives to a useful height, so a bare fence line stops looking bare inside two summers.
• Lemon scented foliage. Crush a leaf or run a hedge trimmer through it and the whole garden smells of citrus.
• It feeds bees and birds. A heavy spring cover of white flowers brings in native bees, butterflies and small honeyeaters.
• Tough where softer screens give up. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, salt tolerant and content on poor soil.
• Softer than a clipped hedge. The fine arching growth reads as a natural screen rather than a green wall, which suits a bush garden.

Where it works best

Screening and privacy. Plant 1m apart in a single row. At that spacing the canopies knit together while each plant still fills out from the base.

Hedging. The same 1m spacing holds a trimmed hedge at 1.5m to 2m. Trim lightly and often rather than hard and rarely.

Coastal gardens and mass planting. Salt tolerance makes it a genuine front line coastal plant. For a mass planting on a slope or a boundary, keep to 1m spacing.

Growing Lemon Frost Leptospermum in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun for the densest growth and heaviest flowering. It suits subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens, and it is frost hardy once established. Constant wet season humidity in the tropics is its weak point.

Soil. Free draining soil of almost any fertility. It will not accept wet feet, so raise the planting line on clay and keep mulch 75mm deep and clear of the stem.

Water and feed. Deep soak twice a week through the first summer, then taper off. It needs very little feeding: a low phosphorus native blend after flowering is enough.

Pruning. Trim straight after flowering, never into bare wood. Leptospermums reshoot poorly from old stems, so a plant cut back hard may stay bare. Light annual trimming from year one keeps it dense.

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 value choice for a long boundary and catch up quickly because this species establishes fast. The 200mm plants arrive branched and give a visible screen sooner.

Plants are packed to travel upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Expect a quiet three weeks after planting, then strong growth through the first warm season. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• How to grow and prune leptospermum
• Compare screening plants for 2m to 4m
• Browse salt tolerant plants for coastal gardens

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a screen?

One metre apart in a single row. Closer planting does not close the gap faster and makes the base of each plant thin as they shade one another.

How fast does it grow?

It is one of the quicker natives, typically reaching most of its 2.5m height in three to four seasons in a warm garden with water through the first summer. Growth is slower in cool temperate districts.

Can I cut it back hard if it gets leggy?

No. Leptospermums do not reliably shoot from bare old wood, so hard pruning can leave permanent gaps. Trim lightly every year after flowering instead.

Will it cope with frost?

Yes, it is frost hardy once established, which sets it apart from many warm climate screens. Protect young plants through their first winter in cold districts.