Aussie Southern Lilly Pilly Syzygium australe Aussie Southern

Aussie Southern is a tall, narrow, upright Syzygium australe for screening, with glossy dark leaves held to the ground and bronze new growth, and like every brush cherry it takes light frost only. The slim habit is the point of it. Where a broad lilly pilly pushes well out into the lawn on its way up, this one goes up rather than out, so it suits a side boundary, the strip between a driveway and a fence, or the back of a bed where the screen has to be high but the planting cannot be deep.

Do not read the name as a frost rating. Brush cherry comes from the rainforests of the warm east coast, and gardeners trying it in Melbourne, Canberra and the tablelands find its trouble arrives in winter rather than summer: frost burning the soft tips, cold wind browning the face of a young hedge, and growth that stalls from late autumn until spring. There, siting and planting decide more than the label does, and the hedge takes a season or two longer to close up than it would in the subtropics; that is the climate, not a fault in the plant.

Height without the width

Because it grows tall and narrow rather than broad, a single row screens a boundary without taking much of the bed. Space screening plants roughly a metre apart, a little tighter if you want a clipped face sooner. Full sun gives the densest growth, which matters most in the south where winter light is weak. Part shade will do, though the hedge closes more slowly and stays more open. A tall, slim plant catches wind, so stake the larger sizes through their first year on an exposed site. In a frosty district, remember that cold air drains downhill and pools: keep the hedge off the bottom of a slope and out of open, still hollows where white frost lies longest, and a fence, wall or established planting on the cold side does more for a young hedge than any fertiliser. In Adelaide and the drier fringes of Melbourne the risk flips to summer, when hot northerly winds scorch an exposed face, so mulch heavily and give deep soakings through heatwaves rather than frequent light watering.

Spring planting and an early stop

In warm districts lilly pillies can go in at almost any time of year, but where frost is regular, spring is the season to plant. A plant set out in autumn sits in cold soil with roots that barely move, then meets its first frosts with nothing established. Spring planting gives it a full growing season to root down before winter. For the first two winters, frost cloth over young plants on clear, still nights saves the soft tips. Give a native fertiliser as the soil warms in spring and a second, smaller one in early summer, then stop, because a late feed pushes soft growth into autumn and that growth is exactly what frost takes. Trimming follows the same calendar: start once the spring flush has firmed, finish before the nights turn cold, and leave it alone through winter. Pimple psyllid and scale are the pests to watch, and plants kept watered and fed through summer suffer less from both.

How it compares

For a boundary, Syzygium australe Resilience is the familiar general purpose alternative and also wants frost shelter while young, so the choice between the two comes down more to the shape you want than to hardiness. Cascade Lilly Pilly gives a softer, arching outline for an informal screen. Where frost is hard and regular rather than occasional, ask whether a brush cherry is the right plant at all; our guide to Frost tolerant plants covers what handles a properly cold garden, and Privacy & Screening Plants is where to weigh a frost hardier screen against it.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 3 sizes, from 300mm up to 100L, priced from $109.00 to $649.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Every size here is established stock rather than a starter plant, so this line is intended for immediate effect rather than for growing on. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to choosing a lilly pilly.