Choosing The Perfect Lilly Pilly
How To Find The Right Lilly Pilly For Your Landscaping Project
Lilly pillies are a go-to choice for Melbourne gardeners who want year-round privacy, lush foliage, and easy-care plants that look good in every season. From dense hedges to statement feature trees, these hardy evergreens bring both function and beauty to your landscape.
Benefits of Planting Lilly Pillies
- Evergreen foliage for year-round structure and privacy
- Fast-growing and easy to maintain
- Attractive new growth in shades of bronze, copper, or lime
- Versatile – suitable for hedging, screening, feature planting, and pots
- Bird-friendly – many produce berries that attract wildlife
- Adaptable to a variety of soil types
Syzygium Australe Backyard Bliss
A fast-growing, dense hedge plant with vibrant bronze new growth that matures to a deep green. Its compact, tidy habit and psyllid resistance make it ideal for low-maintenance privacy screening in smaller gardens.
- Mature height: 3–4m (easily maintained at 2m with pruning)
- Growth rate: Fast growth
- Features: Dense growth habit, bright bronze new foliage, psyllid resistant
- Best for: Quick, tidy privacy screens in urban gardens
Best Selling Syzygium Australe Backyard BLiss
Weeping Lilly Pilly Waterhousia Floribunda
Known for its elegant, weeping foliage and soft flushes of bronze new growth, Waterhousia creates a lush, natural screen. It grows into a tall, graceful tree, perfect for large boundaries or statement plantings.
- Mature height: 6–10m
- Growth rate: Fast Growth
- Features: Soft, weeping foliage, flushes of pink new growth, white summer flowers
- Best for: Large boundary screens or feature planting in spacious gardens
Fast growing Weeping Lilly Pilly Waterhousia Floribunda
Acmena Smithii
A versatile and hardy lilly pilly with glossy green leaves, bronze-pink new growth, and small white flowers followed by purple berries. It makes an excellent tall hedge or screen and adapts well to a variety of soil types
- Mature height: 4–6m
- Growth rate: Medium to fast
- Features: Glossy leaves, bronze tips, white flowers followed by purple berries
- Best for: Tall, attractive hedging and screening
Acmena Smithii ‘Minor’
This compact variety has fine-textured, smaller leaves and a neat, upright growth habit. It’s ideal for narrow spaces or formal hedges and is naturally resistant to psyllid damage.
- Mature height: 2–3m
- Growth rate: Medium - fast
- Features: Fine-textured foliage, smaller leaves, neat growth habit, psyllid resistant
- Best for: Narrow spaces, formal low hedges, and courtyard gardens
Syzygium Australe ‘Sublime’
With striking lime-green new foliage and dense, upright growth, Sublime adds a vibrant pop of colour to any hedge or screen. Its fast growth and psyllid resistance make it a reliable choice for modern garden designs.
- Mature height: 4–5m
- Growth rate: Medium - Fast
- Features: Striking lime-green new growth, dense foliage, psyllid resistant
- Best for: Bright, modern garden designs or adding colour contrast to hedges
Tips for Maximum Growth
Lilly pillies thrive in full sun to part shade and prefer well-drained soil enriched with organic matter. For best results, mulch to retain moisture and protect roots, feed with a slow-release fertiliser in spring and autumn, and prune lightly after each flush of new growth to maintain shape and encourage dense foliage.
