Grevillea Elegance

Grevillea 'Elegance' (Grevillea 'Elegance') is the fast informal screen for a hot, dry or coastal block. It reaches about 3.5m tall and 3m wide, and it carries long pink and red toothbrush flowers for most of the year, which keeps honeyeaters in the garden almost continuously. Where a hedge would need clipping and watering, this asks for one prune a year and very little else.

Why you'll love it

• Flowers nearly year round. Large pink and red toothbrush blooms come in waves rather than one short season, with the heaviest flush through the cooler months.
• Serious bird attraction. The nectar brings honeyeaters and lorikeets in numbers, and the dense branching gives small birds cover.
• Fast to screen. Planted 2m apart it fills a boundary within two to three seasons, well ahead of most evergreen hedge plants.
• Thrives on neglect. Drought tolerant, salt tolerant and content in poor soil, so it suits a dry front garden or an exposed coastal fence line.

Where it works best

Screening and privacy. Plant 2m apart in a single row for a fast informal screen. The result reads as a soft green wall rather than a clipped hedge, which suits a native or coastal garden better than a formal one.

Hedging. It can be held tighter with two trims a year at about 1.5m spacing, though flowering drops when you clip it hard.

Feature planting. A single plant in a dry sunny bed earns its place on flowers alone, particularly against a fence or wall where the arching growth can be seen.

Growing Grevillea 'Elegance' in Australia

Position and climate. Full sun, always. It suits tropical, subtropical, warm temperate, Mediterranean and arid gardens, and it is one of the better grevilleas for humid coastal areas. It takes only light frost, so cold inland and southern districts need a sheltered warm position.

Soil. Free draining soil of almost any fertility. Sand and gravel are fine, heavy clay is not, so plant on a raised mound where drainage is doubtful. Keep mulch coarse and pulled back from the stem.

Water and feed. Deep soak weekly through the first summer, then only in long dry spells. Use a low phosphorus native fertiliser in early spring if you feed at all, because standard garden fertilisers can damage the roots.

Pruning. Tip prune lightly from the first year to build density, then cut back by up to a third after the main flowering flush. Avoid cutting into bare old wood, which reshoots slowly or not at all.

What to expect when it arrives

This grevillea is grown in tubes, 140mm pots in packs of ten and 200mm pots in packs of six. Tubes and 140mm plants are young and single stemmed, and they are the sensible choice for a long boundary because grevilleas establish quickly from small sizes. The 200mm packs give you a branched plant with some height already.

Expect a quiet month after planting while roots move out, then rapid growth through the first warm season. 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

• Read the full grevillea care guide
• Compare varieties in the grevillea range
• See other screening plants between 2m and 4m
• Browse bird attracting plants for the rest of the garden

Common questions

How far apart for a screen?

Two metres apart in a single row. Any closer and the plants crowd each other into bare lower stems, which is the usual reason a grevillea screen thins out at the base.

How fast does it grow?

Quickly in a warm garden with sun and drainage, closing a 2m gap in two to three seasons. Growth slows noticeably in cooler southern gardens and in shade.

Can I keep it smaller than 3.5m?

Yes. Two light prunes a year hold it at 2m to 2.5m. Trim after each flowering flush rather than in one hard cut, and stay in leafy growth.