Discover 5 Australian Shrubs for a Lush Garden
A shrub, sometimes called a bush, is a small to medium-sized woody perennial plant. Their many stems and shorter height distinguish them from trees, while their persistent above-ground woody stems set them apart from herbaceous plants. You can prune them into hedges, tidy patterns, or unusual shapes.
They’re typically no taller than six metres and never reach ten metres. Australian shrubs can be evergreen or perennial and flower all year round; they’re a must for any garden. You can use these tough, bushy plants in your garden in many ways –they’re the best garden fillers since you can use them as feature plants, border and edge plants, or decorative, low-maintenance pot plants.
What Is the Best Shrub for a Garden?
Native plants from Australia are becoming increasingly popular in gardens, particularly shrubs with flowers like banksias, grevilleas, correas, bottlebrush, and lilly pillies. Gardeners use them to make their gardens more ecologically friendly and to draw native insects, birds, and animals.
Additionally, native plants are believed to be more suited to the environment. Several lovely native plants that play various roles in different garden types are also more readily available, along with the growing number of designated cultivars. Here are the most popular Australian shrubs to help you create a lush garden.
Camellia
Camellia (Camellia sasanqua and japonica) in all of its varieties is an excellent shrub plant for gardening. Sasanqua, which flowers in the autumn, is a dependable shrub for use as a feature plant, hedge, privacy screen, or in containers. Some kinds are scented.
Sasanquas vigorously grow and may endure sun to part shade. The slower-growing, winter-flowering japonicas have dark green glossy leaves and big red, pink, or white blooms and are best suited for partial shade. These, too, can be cultivated as feature or hedge plants, with some types ideal for pots.
Camellias favour acidic soils, thus in alkaline places, cultivate camellias in pots with an acid potting mix and can be pruned into forms after flowering. Sasanqua camellias come in many different blossom hues, but all feature luxuriant evergreen foliage ideal for hedging.
Gardenia
Gardenia (Gardenia augusta ‘Florida’ and other variants) is a popular garden shrub for temperate areas, thanks to its winning mix of brilliant green evergreen foliage and fragrant white flowers that bloom from late spring to autumn.
Grow a single shrub in the ground or in a large pot, or mass plant to form a low hedge under a metre high. The ‘Florida’ variety, originating in Eastern Asia, is the most common Gardenia for hedging in Australia. Taller types, such as ‘Magnifica’, can be grown as hedges or standards. They’re cold-sensitive and thrive in a warm, sheltered, sunny environment; they’re known for their lusciously fragrant blooms, but also produce dependable evergreen foliage.
Murraya
Murraya (Murraya paniculata) is a tall evergreen, extensively used as a hedge plant. In the summer months, following rain, it produces flushes of intensely fragrant white, orange-blossom-like flowers, earning it the common name orange jessamine. Murraya, if not pruned, can grow into trees that reach many metres in height.
The compact variety ‘Min-a-Min’ grows slowly and densely, with little leaves. It’s perfect for a low hedge (up to 1m tall) or a clipped container plant. Prune all Murrayas after flowering to avoid seeding and keep the plants compact. Murraya’s magnificent green leaves will feature in your garden year-round, even in blossom.
Sweet Viburnum
Viburnum (Viburnum odoratissimum) is an extremely popular hedge shrub, particularly for street frontages in mild temperate to tropical climates. This Australian native tree thrives in full sun to partial shade and can reach a mature height of 4 metres and a spread of 2-3 metres. Viburnum odoratissimum is a magnificent addition to any landscape, whether planted alone or as a dense screen.
Viburnum odoratissimum, a garden favourite, has extensive foliage coverage, but its popular name, sweet viburnum, refers to the small but intensely fragrant white blossoms that dot the leaves in July. Although it has little white flowers, it is more commonly planted for its huge, glossy green leaves and rapid growth. It’s suitable for medium to tall hedges, growing to 2-4m high and 3m broad. Named variations include ‘Dense Fence’, which has smaller leaves than the popular matt-green ‘Emerald Lustre’.
Indian Hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis)
Rhaphiolepis (Rhaphiolepis indica) is a vigorous shrub that blooms profusely in the spring and intermittently throughout the year. Although native to China, Indian hawthorn grows well in the North Coast, Hunter, and Greater Sydney regions. It’s best grown as a formal, clipped hedge. It thrives in containers and tolerates exposed places such as balconies, seaside conditions, and dry or inland areas besides growing in the ground.
There are numerous kinds, and these are the best ones for gardening. ‘Apple Blossom’ has enormous pink flowers and grows to about 1.5m high and 2m broad. ‘Oriental Pearl’ has white flowers and pink stamens, but ‘Little Bliss’ and ‘Snow Maiden’ have dazzling white blooms and reddish new growth. They all reach a height and width of about 1m and are considered weedy in some regions.