Sacred Bamboo Nandina domestica Moon Bay

Fresh green rather than red is what Moon Bay is grown for. Its fine, divided leaves open a light lime green and stay a bright, clean green through the warm months, so in summer it reads as a soft, pale mound against darker shrubs and stone. The reds and burgundies only arrive once cold nights and sun bring them on in late autumn and winter, and they fade again as spring growth starts.

It is a dwarf, slow growing form, low and rounded, sitting around knee height for its first years and creeping only a little higher with age. That makes it a plant for edges and repetition: a low hedge along a path, a band in front of taller shrubs, or a row of matching pots on a step. Like the rest of Low Maintenance Plants, it gets by on very little attention once established.

A nandina that still looks right in part shade

The red flushing nandinas need sun to justify themselves, because without it they stay plain green. Moon Bay is green for most of the year anyway, so a position with morning sun and afternoon shade, or bright filtered light under high trees, costs it far less. It will be greener and slightly more open there, and the winter tints will be lighter, but it still holds a tidy shape. Only ground that never sees direct sun at all makes it lanky.

Canberra frosts, Melbourne winters and Sydney humidity are all within its range, and poor, dry soil does not bother it once it has settled in. A waterlogged root zone in winter is what kills young plants, so on clay build the bed up a spade's depth before planting.

A pale partner for the red nandinas

Pairing is where Moon Bay is most useful. Planted alongside Nandina Gulf Stream, whose bronze red new growth needs sun to show, it gives a two tone border that changes through the year: pale and dark in summer, red and burgundy together in winter. Blush Nandina adds pink flushes to the mix, and the three make an easy, long lived combination for a front garden that gets little attention.

Low hedges and the little care they need

For a low, informal hedge, set plants a little closer than their mature spread so the mounds knit together within a couple of seasons; our guide How many plants do I need for a hedge? works through the arithmetic. A hedge along a bush boundary is the one place to think twice. New South Wales lists Nandina domestica as an environmental weed, with bushland around Sydney and the Blue Mountains the worst affected; it has naturalised sparingly in south east Queensland and is rated a potential weed in Victoria. Moon Bay fruits sparingly, but any berries that form should come off before birds find them. Dogs, cats and stock that chew it can be poisoned, the berries being the most toxic part.

Water each plant deeply once or twice a week through its first summer, then let rainfall do most of the work. Trim once a year in late winter if the hedge line needs tidying, and every few years remove a handful of the oldest stems from the base so the hedge keeps leaves right down to the ground. Feed lightly with a slow release fertiliser in spring, and resist anything stronger, which only produces soft, floppy growth.

Choosing a size

This plant is supplied in one size, 300mm, at $99.00 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 low water gardens.