Kohuhu Pittosporum tenuifolium Tasman Ruffles

What separates Tasman Ruffles from ordinary kohuhu is the leaf edge. Every small leaf is crimped and waved rather than lying flat, and set against the near-black slender stems the foliage catches light in a way that plain green forms do not. Growth is naturally upright and dense from low down, which is why it is chosen for screens and clipped hedges rather than left as an open specimen. Florists cut it for the same qualities, so a hedge trim produces usable foliage for the house.

Everything depends on drainage

It suits cool and warm temperate gardens, takes full sun to part shade, needs only low to moderate water once settled, and grows at a moderate to fast rate, so a screen closes over reasonably quickly. Coastal conditions are fine as long as it is not in the direct salt line. Wet feet kill it, and that is the plain failure mode for this plant. Heavy clay, a low corner of the garden or a bed inside a lawn irrigation zone all produce the same result: a plant that looks fine for a year or two, then throws sudden branch dieback and collapses without much warning, often as the weather warms after a wet spell. Plant into free-draining ground, mound the row where the soil is heavy, and keep sprinklers off the stems. For a screen, set plants about 60 to 80 cm apart in a single row. On a windy site, stake for the first season, since a young plant rocking in an open row loosens its own rootball and stalls. Frost is tolerated on established plants, but avoid pruning late in autumn, since soft regrowth going into cold weather gets burnt.

Pittosporum against the harder-wearing screens

Green Rocket is the tougher formal alternative, narrower in the row, steadier under reflected heat and coastal exposure, and it will reshoot after a hard renovation cut. Tasman Ruffles is finer in texture, quicker to fill and more interesting close up, but it does not recover from cutting into bare old wood, so it wants trimming little and often. On a dry, poor, exposed site where neither hedging plant is happy, purple hop bush is the informal screen to use instead. All three are evergreen and all three will block a view, so the decision comes down to the soil you have and how much trimming you intend to do each year. See the rest in privacy screening.

Little and often, in the warm months

Trim lightly and frequently through spring and summer, taking the tips while the growth is still soft and leafy. Pittosporums shoot poorly from bare old wood, so a hedge that has been allowed to run and is then cut back hard will carry gaps that may never fill. Where a plant has already got away, reduce it over two or three seasons rather than in one cut. Feed in early spring with a controlled-release fertiliser, keep water up through the first two summers while the roots establish, and mulch the row without piling material against the stems.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 4 sizes, from 140mm up to 300mm, priced from $16.95 to $99.95 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. These are younger plants, priced for planting in quantity, and they establish quickly once in the ground. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to fast growing screening plants.