Beach Acronychia Acronychia imperforata Vista

Vista is a selected form of beach acronychia, chosen from the coastal rainforest species for one quality: even, upright density that holds right down to ground level. That uniformity is what makes it a hedging plant rather than a shade tree, because every plant in a run breaks and thickens at the same rate. The leaves are thick and rounded, glossy above and paler beneath, and small cream flowers give way to pale yellow fruit. Use it for a narrow screen where the face has to stay flat.

Getting a Vista screen away in its first year

This is a plant for warm coastal and subtropical gardens, where it stands up to wind, salt-laden air and sandy soil that would test most hedging plants. It will grow in a heavier profile as long as the site drains and the crown is not sitting in a wet hollow. Frost is the limit, so cold inland districts are out. The failure mode here is impatience. Vista takes its time to get moving while it puts roots down, and gardeners who space it as though it were a lilly pilly, then judge it after a single summer, end up with a gappy line and start pulling plants out just as the second-year growth arrives. Space at roughly 600mm for a tight clipped hedge and 750mm to a metre for a softer screen, plant the entire run in one go from a single grade, and tip the plants lightly in the first year to force branching low down instead of letting them chase height.

Vista against the seedling species and other screens

The straight species is grown from seed and varies plant to plant, which reads well as an informal coastal thicket but shows up as unevenness in a formal hedge. Take Vista when the hedge is architectural, sits along a fence line or frames an entry, and take the species when you want a looser boundary planting or a few plants to grow up into small trees. Vista also carries foliage lower on the plant, which matters when the screening job starts at ground level rather than above a fence. Where the site is inland, shaded or frost-prone, neither is the answer: cinnamon myrtle handles those conditions and clips just as cleanly. Advanced grades of Vista are listed under advanced trees.

Keeping the face flat

Trim through the warm months, little and often, starting before the plant reaches its finished height so the sides build density as it climbs. Two or three light cuts between spring and autumn hold a sharp face better than one hard annual cut, and shearing into green wood keeps the response even. Keep the top of the hedge slightly narrower than the base so light reaches the lower foliage, otherwise the bottom thins as the plant fills at the top. Feed after the first trim with a controlled-release native fertiliser and again in late summer, watering it in and topping up mulch at the same time. Watch for scale on the shaded inner face and treat it early.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 3 sizes, from 200mm up to 45L, priced from $29.95 to $229.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to when to plant in Australia.