Tea Olive

Tea Olive (Osmanthus x burkwoodii) is the hedge you plant for the perfume as much as the privacy. It reaches about 3m tall and 2.5m wide if left alone, carries small hard glossy leaves that clip into a crisp face, and covers itself in tiny scented white flowers each spring. Slow growth is the trade off, and it is why the hedge still looks sharp a decade on.

Why you'll love it

• Perfume you can smell from the house. The spring flowers are small and easily missed, but the fragrance travels well beyond the plant.
• It clips like box, at hedge height. Small dense leaves and tight branching mean cut faces heal cleanly, which suits formal hedging and topiary.
• Slow growth is a feature. One or two trims a year hold the shape, instead of the four a fast hedge demands.
• Hardy in cold and exposed gardens. Frost hardy, wind tolerant, salt tolerant and drought tolerant once established.

Where it works best

Hedging and screening. Plant 80cm apart for a dense clipped hedge that closes over in three to four seasons and holds a face from 1m to 3m. For a taller informal screen, space at 1.2m and trim only the sides.

Topiary and feature planting. Single plants shape well into balls, cones and standards, and a matched pair at an entry is one of the better uses for this shrub.

Growing Tea Olive in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun or part shade both work, with part shade preferred in hot inland gardens. This is a plant for warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean climates. It is not suited to humid tropical or wet subtropical gardens, where the dense growth stays damp.

Soil. Any well drained soil suits it, slightly acidic to neutral for preference. Dig compost through the whole bed, and on heavy clay plant on a mound. Mulch 75mm deep, off the stems.

Water and feed. Water deeply twice a week through the first two summers, since slow growers take longer to establish. After that it is genuinely drought tolerant. Feed a controlled release fertiliser in early spring.

Pruning. Trim immediately after the spring flowers finish, and again in late summer if needed. Flowers form on the previous season's wood, so a late winter cut removes the perfume for that year. It does shoot from old wood, so an overgrown plant can be cut back hard.

What to expect when it arrives

Tea Olive is supplied as tube stock: a young single plant, typically ankle height on arrival. That is the honest starting point, and it is why the price per plant is low enough to line a long boundary. Expect 20cm to 30cm of growth a year, so allow four to five seasons for a closed hedge at 1.5m.

Tubes travel well and establish quickly if they go in straight away and stay watered through their first summer. A single tube will not meet the minimum order of $300 before delivery, so most customers order a run for a hedge. Delivered Australia wide, delivery from $29.95, with our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• A guide to the most fragrant garden plants
• Browse the fragrant plant range
• Compare hedging plants for your climate
• Sweet Osmanthus for a stronger scent on a larger shrub

Common questions

How far apart do I plant it for a hedge?

Eighty centimetres apart in a single row for a clipped hedge. Planting tighter does not speed up the closing, and it makes watering and feeding harder as the roots compete.

How slow is slow?

Roughly 20cm to 30cm a year in good conditions, about a third the pace of a lilly pilly. Budget four to five seasons from tube stock to a solid 1.5m hedge.

When does it flower and when should I trim?

The main flush is in spring and lasts two to three weeks. Trim straight afterwards rather than in late winter, because the buds sit on wood made the previous season.