Green Honey Myrtle

Green Honey Myrtle (Melaleuca diosmifolia) is the best coastal windbreak shrub most gardeners have never heard of. It grows quickly to about 2.5m tall and wide, dense right down to the ground, and carries lime green bottlebrush flowers that look like nothing else in an Australian garden. Salt laden wind, poor sandy soil and frost all leave it unbothered.

Why you'll love it

• Lime green flowers. Chartreuse bottlebrushes through spring and early summer, an unusual colour that reads as fresh rather than loud.
• Dense to the ground, and fast. Fast growth with tight branching from the base closes a screen in about two seasons, with no bare leg at fence height.
• A coastal workhorse. Salt and wind tolerant, and it holds its shape in exposed positions instead of leaning and thinning.
• Frost hardy and drought tolerant. Cold southern winters and long dry spells are both within range, so it plants out from Mediterranean gardens to the subtropics.
• Full of birds and bees. Nectar rich flowers bring in honeyeaters and native bees, and the dense interior shelters small birds.

Where it works best

Screening and hedging. Plant 1.5m apart for a dense screen. The canopies meet within two seasons and the wall stays furnished at the base.

Windbreaks. This is where it excels. A double staggered row at 1.5m spacing filters wind rather than blocking it, avoiding the turbulence a solid barrier creates.

Coastal gardens and mass planting. Use it as the front line on an exposed block, or across a bank at 1.5m to 2m spacing to stabilise the soil.

Growing Green Honey Myrtle in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun gives the densest growth and the most flowers; in part shade it opens up and looks sparse at the base. It suits subtropical, warm temperate, cool temperate and Mediterranean gardens, and it is frost hardy, so cold southern and inland districts are within range.

Soil. Undemanding. It handles coastal sand, loam and heavier ground alike, provided the site is not permanently waterlogged. Work compost through the backfill on poor soil, then mulch 75mm deep.

Water and feed. Deep water twice a week through the first summer, then taper off; it is properly drought tolerant from the second season. Feed once in early spring with a low phosphorus native fertiliser, since standard products damage this family.

Pruning. Trim straight after flowering, taking up to a third of the growth. Melaleucas reshoot readily from old wood, so an overgrown plant can be cut back hard in early spring. Left untrimmed it becomes a broad billowy shrub.

What to expect when it arrives

This one is grown as tube stock: young, single stemmed plants. That sounds modest for a screening job until you do the numbers, since a 15m windbreak at 1.5m spacing needs ten plants and tubes close that gap in two seasons. Tubes also transplant with almost no setback, which matters on an exposed site where a larger plant would rock in the ground.

Tip prune from the first season to force branching at the base, and water through the first summer even though the mature plant is drought tolerant. Delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95. Every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.

Plant care guides and related reading

• Identifying and caring for melaleucas
• Compare the full melaleuca collection
• Plants that stand up as windbreaks
• Best coastal plants for beachside gardens

Common questions

How far apart should I plant it for a screen?

One and a half metres apart in a single row. Each plant reaches about 2.5m across, so the canopies overlap into a solid screen. For a windbreak, use two staggered rows.

How fast does it grow?

Fast, by screening shrub standards. In a warm garden with water through the first summer, expect a usable screen in about two seasons and full height in three. Growth is slower in cool temperate gardens.

Are the flowers really green?

Yes, a clear lime or chartreuse green, which is what makes this species collectable. The flowers are the standard bottlebrush shape and hold for several weeks in spring and early summer.