Lilly Pilly Acmena smithii Minor (Syzygium smithii)

Minor is the small leaved form of Acmena smithii, and the leaf is the whole story. It is short and narrow, so a clipped face reads as fine texture rather than a wall of chopped foliage, and cut ends are far less obvious in the week after a trim than they are on a large leaved hedge. Growth is dense and twiggy from the base on a frame that stays well below the straight species. It is the plant for low hedges, clipped balls and mounds, driveway edges and formal shapes around lawns, and it holds those shapes without a fight.

The same country as the species

The same country suits it as the species: coastal and near coastal Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT and Victoria, plus the milder districts of South Australia and Western Australia. Sun or part shade, free draining soil with compost dug through, and mulch kept up over the shallow roots, which matters more here than on a tall hedge because a low clipped plant carries less leaf to shade its own root zone and dries out sooner. Space plants 500 to 750mm apart for a low hedge. For clipped balls, allow the finished width plus a gap you can get a barrow through, since you will be walking around each one several times a year.

Order the whole run at once

The trap with Minor is that it is a seed grown line rather than a single clone, so leaf size and vigour vary a little from plant to plant. In an informal screen nobody notices. In a long formal run assembled from three orders placed months apart, you get visible steps in texture and height where the batches meet, and no amount of trimming evens them out, because the difference sits in the plant rather than in the shape you cut. Order the full quantity in one go so it comes off the same batch, lay every plant out along the line and sort them by size before anything goes in the ground, and put the strongest at the ends where the eye travels.

Minor beside the species, and beside brush cherry

Compared with Acmena smithii, the choice is finished size. The straight species has real tree height in it, which is what you want on a tall boundary and what you do not want in a knee high edge that then needs cutting back four times a year to stay there. Compared with a compact brush cherry such as Plum Magic, Minor trades the purple flush for foliage psyllid does not attack, which matters most on a low hedge beside a front door where the leaves are looked at from a metre away. For clipped balls and standards in pots it is also the steadier of the two Acmenas, since it is not pushing for height the whole time. More clipped options are in hedges.

Little and often

Shear lightly and often through the growing season rather than waiting for it to get away. Small leaved forms hold their shape well between cuts, and the fine leaf means a trim leaves no obvious damage across the face, so there is no reason to be timid with the shears. Start shaping in the first season to build interior branching early, then ease off as the weather cools. Feed at a modest rate when growth first moves and once more before the heat peaks; a heavy feed on a low hedge only buys you extra trimming without adding the density you actually wanted.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 9 sizes, from 140mm up to 200L, priced from $16.95 to $2189.00 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.