Tropic Cascade Lomandra

Tropic Cascade Lomandra (Lomandra hystrix 'Tropic Cascade') is the strappy native to reach for when a site is either too wet or too dry for anything else. It forms a fine weeping clump about 700mm tall and 700mm wide, with scented yellow flower spikes in the foliage in spring. Planted 60cm apart it makes a continuous soft green mass that needs cutting back once every two years.

Why you'll love it

• Wet ground or dry, it copes. This selection handles boggy soil and drainage lines as well as long dry spells, which very few strappy plants manage.
• Fine and weeping, not spiky. The leaves are narrow and arch over, so a mass planting reads as soft movement rather than a row of stiff tufts.
• Scented flowers. Yellow spikes appear low in the clump in spring and carry a sweet perfume you notice on a warm afternoon.
• Frost hardy and heat hardy. It runs from tropical gardens through to cool temperate and arid districts, a wide range for one plant.

Where it works best

Mass planting. Plant 60cm apart for a continuous mass planting, which is about three plants per square metre. At that spacing the clumps touch within two seasons and weeds stop germinating underneath.

Retaining walls and slopes. The fibrous root system holds soil on a batter, and the weeping foliage tumbles over the top of a wall instead of standing rigid on it.

Borders, edging and drainage lines. Its tolerance of wet feet makes it one of the few natives you can use along a swale, a downpipe run, or the low corner of a lawn that never dries out. A pot 300mm or wider also suits a single clump.

Growing Tropic Cascade Lomandra in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the densest clumps, and it also grows in part shade with a looser, taller habit. It suits tropical, subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate and arid to semi-arid gardens, and it is frost hardy once established.

Soil. Most soils suit it, including heavy clay and ground that floods after storms. Thin ground repays compost. Drainage is rarely the problem here.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer to settle the roots, then only in extended dry weather. A light native fertiliser in early spring keeps the colour up; more than that produces soft leaf.

Pruning. Cut the clump back to roughly 150mm above the crown every second year in late winter, before the spring flush. Pull out individual brown leaves by hand in between, and never cut into the woody base of the crown.

What to expect when it arrives

Two sizes are grown: tube stock, and 140mm plants in packs of ten. Tube stock is the standard landscape unit for lomandra and the value choice for a large mass planting, because clumps bulk up fast once the roots reach real soil. The 140mm packs give a fuller plant on day one.

Strappy plants travel better than almost anything else, and leaves are often bundled or trimmed back for transit. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Expect the clump to double across the first growing season and to reach full width by the second or third. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• The lomandra care guide, including when to cut back
• Browse the full lomandra range
• Plants suited to mass planting
• Plants for retaining walls and slopes

Common questions

How many do I need per square metre?

Three, at 60cm spacing. On a large slope you can stretch to 70cm and save on numbers, at the cost of another season before the ground closes over.

How often should I cut it back?

Hard back to about 150mm every second year in late winter. Annual cutting is not necessary, and it shears off the flower spikes before they open.

Can it really sit in wet soil?

Yes. The parent species grows naturally along creek banks, so this selection tolerates saturated ground and short periods of standing water. It is still happier where water moves through rather than sitting for weeks.