Emu Bush Kalbarri Carpet

Emu Bush 'Kalbarri Carpet' (Eremophila glabra 'Kalbarri Carpet') is a Western Australian native groundcover that stays under 30cm tall and spreads to about 2m across. Silver grey foliage carries tubular yellow flowers through much of the year, and honeyeaters find them. It handles heat, drought, poor soil and salt air, which makes it one of the few groundcovers that will hold a hot dry bank without irrigation.

Why you'll love it

• It covers ground fast and low. One plant spreads to 2m and never lifts above 30cm, so it smothers weeds without swallowing the path.
• Yellow flowers most of the year. The tubular blooms sit against silver grey foliage and keep coming well outside the usual spring window.
• Built for hard sites. Drought, heat, poor soil and coastal salt are all within its range once the roots are down.
• Honeyeaters use it. Nectar rich tubular flowers at low level bring small birds into the garden.
• Almost no maintenance. No feeding regime, no staking, and one tidy up a year is enough.

Where it works best

Groundcover and mass planting. Plant 1m apart for full cover. At that spacing the plants knit within about two seasons, and a bed of them reads as a single silver mat.

Retaining walls and slopes. The spreading habit is well suited to trailing over a wall or holding the face of a batter where mowing is impractical.

Rockeries and coastal gardens. Sharp drainage suits it, and salt tolerance means it can sit in a coastal bed that would burn a softer groundcover.

Growing Emu Bush in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, always. It is at home in warm temperate, arid and semi-arid, Mediterranean and subtropical gardens, and it is frost hardy. Shade makes it thin and sparse.

Soil. Drainage matters far more than fertility. Sandy and gravelly soils are ideal, poor soil is no obstacle, and on clay it must go on a raised mound or a rockery pocket.

Water and feed. Water weekly through the first summer to establish, then almost never. Skip the fertiliser: eremophilas resent phosphorus, and rich soil produces soft growth that collapses.

Pruning. Tip prune lightly after the main flush to keep it dense. Avoid cutting into old leafless wood, since it does not reshoot well from bare stems.

What to expect when it arrives

It comes in three sizes: single tubes, a 140mm pack of ten and a 200mm pack of six. Tubes are the economical choice for a large bank and catch up quickly, though they are currently on backorder. The 140mm and 200mm plants arrive already branching and start spreading in their first season.

Plants are packed upright and delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Expect roughly 50cm of spread in the first year in warm weather, and full cover from 1m spacing by the second. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Browse the wider groundcover range
• Compare options for retaining walls and slopes
• See more drought tolerant plants
• Native plants with yellow flowers

Common questions

How many do I need to cover a bed?

At 1m spacing, one plant per square metre. A 10 square metre bank takes ten plants, and that spacing gives full cover in about two seasons.

Does it need watering once established?

Very little. After the first summer it survives on rainfall in most warm temperate and Mediterranean gardens. Overwatering is the more common way to lose it.

Why is my plant going woody in the middle?

Usually a lack of light tip pruning. A light trim after the main flowering flush keeps growth dense, but do not cut back into bare old wood because it will not reshoot from there.

Can I grow it in a pot?

It will trail over the edge of a wide pot or a raised planter, given free draining mix and full sun. Just remember it wants to run 2m, so give it an edge to fall over rather than a narrow container.