Tea Tree

Tea Tree 'Silver' (Leptospermum 'Silver') is the screening native to plant when you want a hedge that moves. It grows to about 3m tall and 2.5m wide, with fine silver grey foliage on weeping branches and a heavy flush of small white flowers in spring. Planted a metre apart it closes into a soft, informal screen, and it takes salt, wind, frost and drought once it is away.

Why you'll love it

• Silver foliage that carries the year. The colour reads from a distance and lifts the dark greens around it, so it looks good in the months it is not flowering.
• A weeping habit, not a block. Branches arch and hang rather than standing stiff, which gives a screen a much softer line than a clipped hedge.
• Genuinely tough. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, salt tolerant and wind tolerant, which is a rare combination in one shrub.
• Birds and bees both use it. The spring flowers feed insects, and the dense inner branching gives small birds somewhere safe to sit.

Where it works best

Screening and privacy. Plant 1m apart in a single row for a dense screen. At 3m it covers a standard fence line and a little above, without needing the room a lilly pilly or a viburnum wants.

Hedging. It clips well if you want something more formal, though a light trim suits the weeping habit far better than a hard square edge.

Coastal gardens. Salt and wind tolerance make it a front line plant on an exposed block, where a staggered double row at 1m spacing filters the wind instead of fighting it.

Growing Tea Tree 'Silver' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, always. The silver colour fades and the plant goes leggy in shade. It suits subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens, and handles frost once established.

Soil. Free draining soil is the one real requirement. Tea trees resent wet feet, so on clay plant on a raised mound with compost worked through, and keep mulch 50mm deep and clear of the stems.

Water and feed. Water deeply twice a week through the first summer, then only in extended dry spells. Use a low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring. Rich feeding produces soft growth and less of the silver colour.

Pruning. Tip prune from planting to build density low down, then trim straight after flowering. Do not cut back into bare old wood, because tea trees are slow to reshoot from it.

What to expect when it arrives

It is grown in two sizes: tube stock, and 140mm pots sold in packs of ten. Tubes are the value option for a long boundary and establish fast, though they arrive knee high or lower. The 140mm packs give a head start and a full row in one order.

Young plants travel well because the foliage is fine and light. Expect a quiet few weeks after planting while the roots move out, then strong growth through the first warm season. Delivered Australia wide, delivery from $29.95, minimum order of $300 before delivery. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Read the full leptospermum care guide.
• Compare options in hedging and screening plants.
• Browse coastal and salt tolerant plants for exposed sites.
• See more Australian native shrubs.

Common questions

How far apart do I plant it for a screen?

One metre apart in a single row. Closer than that and the plants shade each other out at the base, which is where a screen needs to be thickest.

Can I keep it lower than 3m?

Yes. Two trims a year, taken after flowering, will hold it around 2m. Keep the cuts in green growth rather than bare wood and it will stay furnished to the ground.

How fast does it grow?

Moderate. In a sunny, well drained spot expect a usable screen in the second or third season from tube stock, and sooner from the 140mm plants.