{"product_id":"pittosporum-mean-screen-pittosporum-tenuifolium-mean-screen","title":"Pittosporum Mean Screen - Pittosporum tenuifolium Mean Screen","description":"\u003cp\u003eHeight in a narrow footprint is what Pittosporum Mean Screen was selected for. Its habit is strongly upright, a tight green column far taller than it is wide, so it can build privacy above a standard boundary fence without swallowing the bed in front of it. That is the job it does: blocking a second storey window, a neighbour's deck or a view over the back fence, in a strip of soil where a broad tree or a spreading shrub would not fit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeing tall and slim cuts both ways. A narrow column catches the wind like a sail in its first years, and on an exposed site a young plant can be pushed over before its roots take hold. Height also means ongoing work. A screen that rises well above the fence needs a ladder or a long reach trimmer to keep the top in hand, and that commitment is worth weighing before planting a long run.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eSiting a tall, narrow screen\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eSun on the face of the row keeps it dense from the base up, while a screen that sits in the shadow of a building all day thins out at the bottom, exactly where you most want cover. Frost and cold wind do not bother it, which makes it a sound choice for Melbourne, Canberra, the tablelands and the Adelaide Hills, as well as for Sydney and Perth gardens with decent drainage. In the humid subtropics a long wet summer makes it less reliable. A coastal garden is workable if the row is set back from the front line of salt.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpace plants about a metre apart, closer if the gaps need to close sooner. Dig a wide hole rather than a deep one, keep the top of the rootball level with the surrounding soil, and drive a stake on the windward side for the first year or two, tied loosely so the stem can still flex. For beds under a metre wide, \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/screening-plants-for-narrow-spaces\"\u003eScreening a narrow space\u003c\/a\u003e compares the plants that fit.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eWet roots below, a ladder above\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eWaterlogged soil is the main killer, and a long boundary often has one wet end. Watch where water lies after heavy rain before you set out the line, and raise that end of the row on a mound. Keep lawn sprinklers off the root zone, and once the row has had two summers in the ground, water it only in a long dry spell. Tip prune the sides through spring and summer so it thickens rather than simply stretching, and decide early on the height you want, because topping an overgrown screen later leaves stubs that are slow to cover. Inside a dense row, check the inner stems each spring for scale; a horticultural oil spray clears the insects and the black mould that grows on their honeydew.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eHeight before leaf colour\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eIts nearest sibling is \u003ca href=\"\/products\/screen-between-kohuhu-pittosporum-tenuifolium-screen-between\"\u003eScreen Between Kohuhu\u003c\/a\u003e, also an upright screening form but suited to a medium screen rather than a tall one. Choose that where the aim is to lift a fence line, not to block out a building. \u003ca href=\"\/products\/pittosporum-tenuifolium-silver-sheen\"\u003eSilver Sheen\u003c\/a\u003e has small silvery leaves and suits a clipped formal hedge. Mean Screen is the plain green workhorse of the group, the one to pick where height in a slim row matters more than leaf colour. If colour or texture counts for more, the \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/privacy-screening\"\u003eprivacy and screening plants\u003c\/a\u003e collection sets the kohuhu beside lilly pilly and other boundary plants.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3 class=\"pd-size-guidance\"\u003eChoosing a size\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis plant is supplied in one size, 400mm, at $279.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot it arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to \u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/news\/fast-growing-privacy-screen-plants-australia\"\u003efast growing screening plants\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Plant Drop","offers":[{"title":"400mm","offer_id":67671713874289,"sku":null,"price":279.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1017\/1049\/6113\/files\/pittosporum-mean-screen-pittosporum-tenuifolium-mean-screen.jpg?v=1791521048","url":"https:\/\/plantdrop.com.au\/products\/pittosporum-mean-screen-pittosporum-tenuifolium-mean-screen","provider":"Plant Drop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}