Fiji Fire Metrosideros

Fiji Fire Metrosideros (Metrosideros vitiensis 'Fiji Fire') is a fast, dense screening shrub for warm coastal blocks, growing to about 4m tall and 2.5m wide if left alone. Glossy dark leaves cover it from the ground up, and through the warmer months it throws clusters of bright red brush flowers that honeyeaters find within days. It clips well, so most gardeners hold it at 2m to 3m as a hedge.

Why you'll love it

• Fast cover without the mess. It fills out quickly and stays furnished at the base, so a boundary closes in two to three seasons.
• Red flowers on a working hedge. Most screening plants give you green and nothing else. This one flowers through the warm months.
• Built for the coast. Salt tolerant, wind tolerant and comfortable in humidity, which is a hard combination to find in a flowering screen.
• You set the height. About 4m unclipped, or an easy 2m to 3m hedge with two trims a year.

Where it works best

Screening and hedging. Plant 1m apart in a single row for a dense screen. Closer spacing does not close the gap faster and makes watering harder.

Coastal gardens and windbreaks. A staggered double row at 1m spacing filters salt wind instead of trying to block it, which is what an exposed block actually needs.

Feature planting. Grown as a single specimen it shapes into a neat rounded shrub, and the larger sizes carry enough height to anchor a bed on their own.

Growing Fiji Fire Metrosideros in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the densest growth and the most flowers. This is a plant for tropical, subtropical and warm temperate gardens only. It is frost tender, so cold inland districts, the tablelands and frosting southern gardens need a hardier screen or a sheltered warm wall.

Soil. Not fussy about type provided it drains. On heavy clay, plant on a raised mound and work compost through the bed. Mulch 75mm deep and keep it clear of the stems.

Water and feed. Deep soak twice a week through the first summer, then taper back. A controlled release fertiliser in early spring and again in late summer keeps the leaf colour strong and the flowering heavy.

Pruning. Tip prune from planting to build density early. Trim after each flowering flush rather than before it, or you will cut off the buds. It reshoots from older wood, so a neglected hedge can be brought back hard.

What to expect when it arrives

It comes in three sizes: tube stock, 200mm pots in packs of six, and single 45L plants. Tube stock is young and single stemmed and is the value choice for a long boundary, at the cost of a season. The 200mm packs are the usual middle ground for a home hedge, and a 45L plant arrives already branched with real height on day one.

Some leaf drop after transit is normal rather than a fault. Plants are packed upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• How to plant and maintain a sharp hedge.
• Compare the wider hedging and screening range.
• Browse screening plants that finish between 2m and 4m.
• See other salt tolerant plants for coastal blocks.

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a screen?

One metre apart in a single row. The canopies meet at that spacing and the screen reads as solid within two to three seasons, with no thin band along the bottom.

Can I keep it at 2m?

Yes, and most people do. Two trims a year hold it between 2m and 3m, and because it shoots from old wood it stays leafy at the base rather than lifting into bare trunks.

Will it handle frost?

No. It is frost tender and a hard frost will damage or kill it. If your garden frosts regularly through winter, choose a frost hardy screen instead of trying to protect this one.