Lilly Pilly Acmena smithii (Syzygium smithii)

Acmena smithii is the lilly pilly specified when a hedge has to stay clean without a spray program. Its foliage is not attacked by the psyllid that dimples and distorts many Syzygium selections, and on the east coast that one fact settles a lot of jobs. The species itself is variable, running from a large shrub to a tree over 10 metres depending on the form, with glossy dark green leaves, bronze pink new growth, cream flowers and white to mauve berries. It is the standard choice for clipped hedges and tall screens where reliability counts for more than novelty.

Coastal east, and the shadier end of its light range

It is at home through coastal Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria, and grows well in the cooler coastal parts of South Australia and Western Australia. It also handles the shadier end of its light range better than the brush cherries do, which makes it the obvious plant for a south facing boundary where a Syzygium hedge would thin out. Soil should drain while still holding organic matter. Allow 1 to 1.5 metres between plants for a tall screen, or 750mm to 1 metre where the hedge is held at fence height. The berries want planning for as well, since they drop in quantity and will stain, so keep the row back from driveways and pool surrounds.

It is a rainforest plant, and dry wind is what breaks it

The trouble with Acmena comes from putting a shade tolerant, humidity adapted rainforest species on an exposed site with hot dry wind, thin soil and no mulch. It scorches along the leaf margins, drops its inner leaves and then sits there sulking, and cutting it achieves nothing because there is no reserve behind the cut to push a recovery. This is the plant that looks poor on an open western boundary in an inland town while thriving three streets away in a sheltered courtyard. Give it a mulched root zone, shelter from the worst of the prevailing wind, and deep watering through its first two summers, and after that it looks after itself.

Against Minor and the brush cherries

Between the two Acmena entries, size splits them. Acmena smithii Minor is the small leaved form and the better pick for anything below eye level, where its short narrow leaf hides cut ends. The straight species carries a bigger leaf and far more height in it, so it is the one for tall screens and for a hedge that has to cover a two storey outlook. Set against a brush cherry such as Resilience, the trade is colour for cleanliness: the brush cherries flush red and bronze and need psyllid watched, while Acmena gives a quieter bronze pink and nothing to manage. More clipped options are in hedges.

Shearing and recovery

It takes shearing as often as you care to give it, with two cuts a year holding an informal screen and four keeping a formal face crisp. The useful difference from the brush cherries shows at the other end: Acmena reshoots from older wood more reliably, so a hedge that has been let go is usually recoverable through a staged reduction across two seasons instead of one hard cut. Feed it at the start of that recovery and again the following spring to drive the new wood, and keep mulch over the surface roots the whole time it is refurnishing.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 7 sizes, from 140mm up to 200L, priced from $16.95 to $1209.00 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 choosing a lilly pilly.