I plan to create a screen (3-4m high) using WATERHOUSEA FLORIBUNDA.

I am looking for advice on planting distance from a paling fence and
distance between each plant.

Just to confuse me you can offer advice on other lilly pilly varieties
to use.

I live in melbourne metro area.

thanks

jamesd

In article <1143428201.477842.21010 [at] u72g2000cwu.googlegroups.com>,
"jpd1009" <jpd1009 [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> I plan to create a screen (3-4m high) using WATERHOUSEA FLORIBUNDA.

OK. First rule is not to fight the plant -- you will lose. Waterhousea
floribunda grows to about 10m high and 5-8m wide in gardens. It's a large
tree, not a shrub, so rather than branching low (as you want a hedge to do),
it will tend to form a canopy. It sounds like a really bad choice, to be
honest.

> I am looking for advice on planting distance from a paling fence and
> distance between each plant.

IIRC, the rule of thumb is to take the spread of the plant (should be given on
the tag) and halve it. Check it in a gardening book, but this sticks in my
mind as the planting distance for a hedge. Also, you should plant it at least
half the spread away from fences, unless you want it poking through or over
the fence.

> Just to confuse me you can offer advice on other lilly pilly varieties
> to use.

I used 'Lillyput' as a hedging plant in a garden here in Sydney, and the owner
tells me it's now pushing 4m in height. The label said it grew to 2m!

> I live in melbourne metro area.

Look for Syzygium species, if you want a lilly pilly. They do make a nice
thick hedge, and there are quite a few dwarf cultivars around, but I have no
idea how they'd go in Melbourne.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"... if *I* was buying a baby I'd jolly well make sure it was at
least a two-tooth!"
Mary Grant Bruce, The Houses of the Eagle.

chookie, thanks for your great comments.
I agree that the Syzygium species are hard to go past.

i am curious about your comments on Waterhousea florabunda, it is used
extensively down here as a medium screen.
For example here is a typical comment from a melbourne retail supplier.
Maybe it is a matter of getting the variety correct.

http://www.goinggoinggreen.com.au/trees-melbourne.html

in brisbane the waterhousia is used as a screening plant and they do
produce foliage to ground level and if they are given little water or
care they dont really get above 4m or so.

In article <1143498719.266557.16960 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
"jpd1009" <jpd1009 [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> chookie, thanks for your great comments.
> I agree that the Syzygium species are hard to go past.
>
> i am curious about your comments on Waterhousea florabunda, it is used
> extensively down here as a medium screen.
> For example here is a typical comment from a melbourne retail supplier.
> Maybe it is a matter of getting the variety correct.
>
> http://www.goinggoinggreen.com.au/trees-melbourne.html
>

That one's a cultivar (= cultivated variety) and only grows to 5m. I thought
you meant the original, which is described this way a bit lower down:

"Evergreen tree that grows 8-10meters tall around inner suburban Melbourne.
This tree can be pruned or cut back to shape or maintained at a particular
height (say 5m for screening 'the next door extension'). This requires a
twice-yearly cut back ..."

So the nursery is saying that you need to cut it back twice a year to keep it
at 5m. So twice a year, you have to get someone in to cut it, or climb up a
very long ladder to do it yourself. That's two Saturdays and/or your money
wasted -- or you could just buy the smaller cultivar and let it grow without
the need for a high-wire act twice a year. Usually, fruit trees and shrubs
are pruned once a year, if at all. Non-fruiting trees are usually left to
develop normally.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"... if *I* was buying a baby I'd jolly well make sure it was at
least a two-tooth!"
Mary Grant Bruce, The Houses of the Eagle.

I should have been more specific. I do understand that the 'vanilla'
Waterhousea florabunda is a monster.

It is the weeping branches that appeals most. I will continue my
investigating into various cultivars.

As for clipping, this is not negotiable due to the positioning and
styling of the garden...anyway, it is just another reason to be in the
garden...definitely not a chore for me.

In article <1143587961.421486.216090 [at] i40g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
"jpd1009" <jpd1009 [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> As for clipping, this is not negotiable due to the positioning and
> styling of the garden...anyway, it is just another reason to be in the
> garden...definitely not a chore for me.

This is not clipping. This is pruning, five metres off the ground. Got the
ladder for that? Got a hospital nearby?

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue

Discussions with a number of nursery's deemed Waterhousea florabunda
'sweeper' to be OK for height management, however I would not have
gained the required branch density for the depth of hedge I require.

These discussions have now shortlisted the choice to either Acmena
smithii var. minor or Syzygium luehmannii.

This should releive you :-)

In article <1144114945.577387.179590 [at] j33g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
"jpd1009" <jpd1009 [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> Discussions with a number of nursery's deemed Waterhousea florabunda
> 'sweeper' to be OK for height management, however I would not have
> gained the required branch density for the depth of hedge I require.
>
> These discussions have now shortlisted the choice to either Acmena
> smithii var. minor or Syzygium luehmannii.

Aren't they the same plant? BUt yes, lilly pillies are nice for hedges. A
lot better than those horrible Murraya paniculatas you see everywhere.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue

The same plant???
I dont know...i think more investigation is required, if they are then
my short list is even shorter!!!

What about Elaeocarpus reticulatus (Blueberry Ash)?

In article <1144201069.926453.214630 [at] v46g2000cwv.googlegroups.com>,
"jpd1009" <jpd1009 [at] gmail.com> wrote:

> The same plant???
> I dont know...i think more investigation is required, if they are then
> my short list is even shorter!!!
>
> What about Elaeocarpus reticulatus (Blueberry Ash)?

Another pretty small tree rather than a shrub, I think. Note the trunk to 2m
on this information page:
http://www.metrotrees.com.au/treehandbook/page-listings/elae ocarpus-reticulatus
..html

It does say that it *can* retain foliage to the base, but this isn't a given,
and again it grows to 10m. I suggest looking for "large shrubs" rather than
"small trees".

Your Council may (and your local Australian Plants people will) have a list of
local native plants; if you are lucky, with basic descriptions. It's worth
hunting for the locals; they are usually very tough.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Parenthood is like the modern stone washing process for denim jeans. You may
start out crisp, neat and tough, but you end up pale, limp and wrinkled."
Kerry Cue