Melaleuca ‘Mini Quini’

Melaleuca 'Mini Quini' (Melaleuca armillaris, dwarf selection) is the bracelet honey myrtle shrunk down to a low hedge. It holds at about 1m tall and 1m wide where the species runs to 6m, and it keeps the same fine soft foliage and cream bottlebrush flowers. For a native low hedge that never needs a ladder or a hedge trimmer on a pole, it is hard to beat.

Why you'll love it

• It stays low on its own. A metre high and a metre wide is its natural size, so one light trim a year is all it asks.
• Soft, fine textured foliage. The needle like leaves give a low hedge a relaxed edge rather than the hard block of a clipped box.
• Birds and bees find it. Cream bottlebrush flowers through spring bring in honeyeaters and native bees.
• Genuinely tough. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, salt tolerant, wind tolerant and content in poor soil.
• Works right across the country. It suits cool temperate, warm temperate, Mediterranean and subtropical gardens alike.

Where it works best

Low hedging. Plant 60cm apart in a single row for a solid hedge at knee to waist height. That is about seventeen plants for a ten metre run.

Borders and edging. Use it to define a driveway or a garden bed where a clipped hedge would look too formal and a grass would look too loose.

Mass planting and coastal gardens. On a 60cm grid it covers a bank or a front verge, and salt laden wind does not burn the foliage.

Growing Melaleuca 'Mini Quini' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the densest growth and the heaviest flowering. Part shade is tolerated but opens the plant up. It is frost hardy, so cool temperate and inland gardens are fine as well as warm coastal ones.

Soil. Undemanding, as long as water moves through it. Sand, gravel and shallow poor soils all suit it, and it asks for no soil improvement. On heavy clay, or ground that stays wet after rain, plant on a low mound and mulch 75mm deep clear of the stems.

Water and feed. Deep water weekly through the first summer, then leave it to the weather in most districts. A low phosphorus native fertiliser once in early spring is all the feeding it needs.

Pruning. Trim lightly straight after flowering to keep it dense. Stay within green growth, because it does not reshoot reliably from bare leafless wood, so a hard renovation cut is a real risk.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown as tube stock. That is the standard way to buy plants for a low hedge, because a whole run goes in at once at low cost and tubes root out faster than larger stock. Each plant arrives small, at roughly 10cm to 15cm tall, and will look sparse for the first few months.

Plants are packed to travel upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Expect strong growth from the first warm season, with the hedge closing into a continuous line in two to three seasons. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the full melaleuca range
• Choosing the right edging plants
• Compare Australian native shrubs
• Salt tolerant plants for coastal gardens

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a hedge?

Sixty centimetres apart in a single row. At that spacing the plants meet without competing, and the hedge stays furnished right down to ground level.

How long until the hedge closes up?

Two to three seasons from tube stock in a sunny position with water through the first summer. Growth is slower in shade and in cold districts.

Will it really stay at a metre?

Yes. This is a dwarf selection rather than a trimmed form of the species, so it holds around knee to waist height without hard pruning.

Can I cut it back hard if it gets woody?

Not into bare wood. Melaleucas of this type reshoot poorly from leafless stems, so trim little and often within the green growth instead.