GG hedges

Quality, reliable plants in
garden centres this sUMMER!
Hebe ‘Black Panther’
The leaves are large and almost black on the
undersides topped with large deep burgundy flowers
in the summer, beautiful!
Berberis ‘Maria’
In spring ‘Maria’ produces
bright red shoots with lime
green foliage which deepens
to deep yellow through the
summer.
Leptospermum
‘Mirinda’
Large magenta pink flowers
smother the branches through
the spring and summer.
A hardy small shrub for the
home garden.
Rosemary
‘Chefs Choice’
Summer starts with
This stunning new rosemary
has been selected for it’s
wonderful flavour and it’s
great form. An excellent
container plant.
www.colourwave.co.nz
www.qualitygrowers.co.nz
Available now from all good Garden Retailers
natives
Green
Screens
W
hether you need to screen the neighbours
or take the edge off a chilling wind, a leafy
wall of native foliage is a very attractive
solution. There are beautiful natives to
suit every style of garden – or gardener.
For the impatient gardener
It’s amazing how fast some natives will grow but a
quickly built screen of timber, tin or brush sticks can turn
your fishbowl into a secluded sanctuary in the space of a
weekend. A temporary screen is a good option while you
wait for trees to grow.
Exactly how fast they grow depends on the variety,
the soil, and the climate. To achieve the fastest possible
Alfresco living is one of
the great joys of summer –
especially in the comfort of
your own private space.
growth rate, plant in well-prepared soil with compost and
controlled-release fertiliser, mulch after planting, use
wind cloth to shelter young shrubs and water during dry
periods.
However, take care not to overdo feeding or watering.
Native plants don’t like soil that is too wet, and they can
be sensitive to excessive fertiliser. Bear in mind too, that
the fastest growing varieties require the most frequent
trimming. Patience is a virtue rewarded with reduced
maintenance.
A climbing plant will soften a wall or fence without
sacrificing too much ground space. In a frost-free climate,
the shiny foliage of Tecomanthe speciosa makes a handsome
cover for a strongly built structure. This native of the
gogardening.co.nz
33
natives
Three Kings Islands has stunning soft green trumpet flowers,
which tui visit for nectar. Spectacular Clematis paniculata (NZ
Puawhanganga), is a fast growing evergreen with masses of white
flowers in spring.
For the tidy gardener
Classy clipped hedges offer year-round structure, as well
as shelter and privacy. The finest formal hedges are created
from evergreens with small close-packed leaves, which is why
Corokia is so popular. Totara also makes a beautiful formal hedge
and deserves to be planted more often. Big leaf shrubs, such as
glossy Griselinia make a nice formal hedge too, but slicing them
with hedge sheers can make them look butchered. This can be
avoided by trimming with secateurs, albeit a much more labour
intensive job.
Most hedge plants have a wide range of heights at which
they can be kept with regular trimming. Above all, choose a
suitable plant for your soil and climate.
For the casual gardener
NZ Clematis
Design tips
, Not just for property boundaries, hedges
make effective internal walls too. Screen
off parts of the garden so that all is not
revealed in one sweeping glance, and it will be
all the more enticing, and may appear bigger
than it is!
If the permitted boundary fence isn’t tall
enough, create more privacy by planting a
screen closer to your sitting area.
,
A hedge with smaller leaves will
make a compact garden feel more spacious
than one with large leaves.
,
The bronze and silver tones in our various
Corokia cultivars provide beautiful subtle
contrast in a mainly green garden.
,
34 go gardening summer
If constant clipping isn’t for you, plant an informal hedge.
Occasional trimming of the top growth may be necessary to
restrict the height and maintain bushy growth close to the
ground, but choose a growth habit that approximates your
desired height range.
Many natives provide the added bonus of flowers or berries.
Corokias and coprosmas, for example, provide colourful berries.
The spring flowers of Pittosporum go largely unnoticed until
they emit their lovely evening fragrance. Pohutukawa makes a
handsome tall flowering hedge.
If you have space to go wider than single file, consider
a mixed native planting – your own mini bush and a perfect
nesting site for birds! Native birds love native plants.
For the windblown gardener
A thick living screen is the most effective buffer to wind,
dust and salt spray, but the plants we choose to protect us and
our gardens need to be tough themselves. Shelter is often the
first thing planted in a coastal garden, and coastal natives, like
Olearia, karo (Pittosporum crassifolium) and pohutukawa are among
the best. Established shelter trees will give protection for a
distance of up to ten times their height.
Metrosideros
kermadecensis ‘Variegata’
Griselinia littoralis
Five fabulous
native hedges
1 Corokia
With fine foliage perfect for clipping, corokias rate
among the very best low to medium hedges. There is
a range of beautiful cultivars including bright apple
green ‘Genty’s Green’, ‘Frosted Chocolate’, ‘Bronze
King’ and ‘Silver Ghost’. Corokias are frost hardy but
well-drained soil is essential.
2 Pittosporum
The various forms of Pittosporum tenuifolium
(kohuhu) are favourites for screen planting in town
gardens. ‘Mountain Green’, a selected form of kohuhu
has bright, lettuce-green foliage and compact growth.
Another top performer, ‘Tandarra Gold’ has gold-green
leaves with dark stems. Taller P. eugenioides, (tarata
or lemonwood) has pale green leaves with a distinct
lemon fragrance when crushed. Most pittosporums
are frost hardy. They need well-drained soil.
P. crassifolium (karo) is the one to plant on windy
coastal sites.
3 Griselinia
Glossy bright green Griselinia littoralis is a hugely
popular hedge plant with wavy, bright green leathery
leaves. It can be grown at any height and is excellent
in coastal gardens, but intolerant of prolonged wet
feet and is only moderately frost hardy. Best pruned
with secateurs.
4 Totara
Beautiful Podocarpus totara is a large tree, but
with regular trimming it can be kept to almost any
size. Although young plants take time to thicken, it
makes a stunning long-term hedge. The choice of
olive green or gold has now been expanded with the
arrival of ‘Matapouri Blue’, which has stunning bluegray foliage. Totara is frost hardy and wind tolerant,
although not ideal for coastal conditions.
5 Pohutukawa
We know and love it best as a huge spreading
tree, but the NZ Christmas tree will retain a shrubby
habit for many years after planting and makes
an attractive hedge, a godsend in coastal gardens.
Although trimming will reduce flowering, pohutukawa
responds to trimming with fresh bushy growth.
Alternatively, include it in a mixed shelter planting
for a splash of Christmas colour. Nurseries have
developed a range of cultivars from our beloved
Metrosideros excelsa, selected for their distinctive
growth habits and flowering excellence. ‘Vibrance’
is one of the showiest in bloom and makes a thick
bushy hedge. The Kermadec pohutukawa and its gold
variegated form, M. kermadecensis ‘Variegata’ also
make very good hedges for warmer climates.