Sweeper Weeping Lilly Pilly

Sweeper Weeping Lilly Pilly (Waterhousea floribunda 'Sweeper') is the screening tree to choose when you want height with movement rather than a flat clipped wall. It reaches about 5m tall and 3m wide, a compact selection of a much larger rainforest tree, and holds long pendulous branches that sweep down and sway. New growth flushes pink and bronze, and unlike older lilly pillies it resists psyllid.

Why you'll love it

• A weeping screen, not a hedge block. The cascading habit gives a boundary softness and movement while still screening a two storey outlook.
• Psyllid resistant. The soft new growth stays smooth instead of pimpling, so no routine spraying is needed.
• It handles wet ground. A creek margin tree by origin, so it tolerates wet feet where most screening plants sulk or die.
• Fast to useful height. A fast growing native that closes a gap in two to three seasons rather than five.
• Native and bird attracting. Fluffy white and cream flowers in the warmer months bring in birds, followed by small green fruit.

Where it works best

Screening and privacy. Plant 1.5m apart for a tall weeping screen. At that spacing the canopies overlap into a continuous curtain while each tree keeps its weeping form.

Driveways and avenues. Stretch the spacing to 3m to 4m for an avenue, where each tree is read individually and the canopy arches toward the drive.

Hedging and feature planting. It clips into a formal hedge, though trimming trades away the weeping habit.

Growing Sweeper weeping lilly pilly in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the densest growth and the best weeping form; part shade works but the screen stays looser. It suits tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens and is humidity tolerant, so the wet coastal north is comfortable. It takes light frost only, so hard frosting inland districts, the tablelands and cold southern gardens want a hardier screening plant.

Soil. Adaptable and unusually forgiving of damp ground, which is rare in a screening tree, though it grows fastest in deep soil improved with compost.

Water and feed. Deep soak twice a week through the first summer, then weekly in dry weather. It is not drought tolerant, and the weeping tips show stress first. Feed a controlled release native fertiliser in early spring and late summer.

Pruning. Tip prune from planting to build density low down. For a natural weeping screen, prune only the sides and leave the leaders alone; for a formal hedge, trim after the spring flush and in late summer.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in five sizes: tube, 200mm in a pack of 6, 300mm, 400mm and 100L. Tubes and 200mm plants are young and single stemmed and suit a long boundary, allowing an extra season to screen. The 100L plants arrive as branched trees with real height on day one.

Some leaf drop and a few bronzed tips after transit are normal, not a fault. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery, and advanced and large stock is freighted at cost. Expect a quiet fortnight, then new growth within four to six weeks in warm weather. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• The complete weeping lilly pilly care guide
• Compare the full lilly pilly range
• Browse screening plants from 4m to 8m
• See trees suited to driveways and avenues

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a screen?

One and a half metres apart in a single row. Planted tighter, the lower branches shade each other out and the weeping form is lost; planted wider, the screen takes an extra season to close.

How is this different from the ordinary weeping lilly pilly?

The straight species is a much larger rainforest tree. This compact selection holds to about 5m by 3m, which is why it fits a suburban boundary.

Can I keep it lower than 5m?

Yes. Trimming twice a year holds it comfortably at 3m to 4m. Clipping trades the weeping habit for a formal face, so decide which you want first.