Melaleuca ‘Revolution Gold’

Melaleuca 'Revolution Gold' (Melaleuca bracteata 'Revolution Gold') is the golden foliage native to plant when a green hedge would disappear against the fence. It grows to about 4m tall and 2.5m wide, holds bright lime gold new growth all year, and takes clipping as readily as any hedging plant. Add cream flowers in the warmer months and tolerance of drought, salt, wind and wet feet.

Why you'll love it

• Colour without flowers. The foliage carries the display every day of the year, in a gold that lifts a run of dark green shrubs.
• It clips beautifully. Fine leaves and dense branching suit a formal hedge, a loose screen or a small standard tree.
• Fast to make a screen. It closes a gap in a few seasons rather than a decade.
• Almost nothing troubles it. Frost hardy, drought tolerant, wind tolerant, salt tolerant and able to handle wet feet.
• Birds use it. The cream flowers bring honeyeaters in, and the dense interior gives small birds shelter.

Where it works best

Screening and hedging. Plant 1.5m apart for a dense screen. At that spacing the plants meet within two to three seasons, and two trims a year hold the hedge anywhere between 2m and 4m.

Windbreaks. A staggered double row at 1.5m spacing filters wind rather than blocking it, which is what an exposed rural or coastal block actually needs.

Feature planting. A single plant makes a strong gold accent in a native bed, and it clips into a ball or a small standard.

Growing Melaleuca 'Revolution Gold' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun is essential, because in shade the gold fades towards green. It suits tropical, subtropical, warm temperate and arid gardens, and it is frost hardy once established, though young plants in a cold inland garden want shelter through their first winter.

Soil. Genuinely undemanding. It grows on sand, on clay and in ground that stays damp, unusual for a plant that is also drought tolerant. Mulch 75mm deep, clear of the trunk.

Water and feed. Deep soak twice a week through the first summer, then taper right off. Use a low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring, since melaleucas are sensitive to the phosphorus in standard fertilisers.

Pruning. Tip prune from the day it goes in. Regular light trimming produces both the dense hedge and the flush of bright new gold, since the colour is strongest on young shoots. It reshoots from old wood, so a neglected plant recovers from a hard cut back.

What to expect when it arrives

This melaleuca is supplied as tube stock, a young single stemmed plant around 15 to 25cm tall. That is the right format for a hedge or windbreak, since tubes are the affordable way to plant a long run and usually catch a larger plant within two seasons.

Tube stock travels well because there is little top growth to break. Plant it out promptly, water in, and tip prune once it starts moving to force branching low down. Expect roughly a metre of height a year. Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant is covered by our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Compare varieties in our melaleuca collection.
• Browse the wider range of hedging and screening plants.
• See other options in screening plants 2m to 4m.

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a hedge?

One and a half metres apart in a single row. Closer spacing does not close the screen any faster and makes it harder to water and feed each plant. For a windbreak, use two staggered rows at the same spacing.

Can I keep it at 2m?

Yes. Two trims a year hold it anywhere between 2m and 4m, and because it reshoots from old wood it stays furnished at the base instead of lifting into bare stems.

Does it cope with a wet part of the garden?

Yes. It tolerates wet feet, which puts it ahead of most screening plants for a low lying bed. Permanently stagnant water is still too much, so some drainage is worth arranging.