Best Evergreen Screening Trees and Hedges for Privacy in Melbourne
When it comes to creating privacy, softening boundaries, or adding structure to your garden, evergreen screening plants are a must. In Melbourne, with its mix of heritage gardens, modern urban homes, and leafy outer suburbs, the right screening plant can make all the difference. Here are five of our top picks for reliable, attractive, and practical screening options.
Tolley’s Upright Olive
If you’re after a sophisticated, Mediterranean feel, Tolley’s Upright Olive is a fantastic choice. With its silvery grey foliage, strong growing lateral branches make it an ideal olive variety for privacy screening and hedging.
Benefits:
- Drought tolerant once established, perfect for Melbourne’s hot summers.
- Low fruiting olive, making it ideal for poolside planting and along narrow garden beds.
- Minimal maintenance with limited fruit = less mess.
Best planted: Alongside modern architecture in suburbs like Brighton, Elwood and Albert Park, or anywhere you want a stylish, low-water option.
Backyard Bliss (Syzygium Australe)
Created with modern living in mind, Backyard Bliss is a hardy lilly pilly designed for urban privacy. It’s dense, fast-growing, and responds beautifully to trimming, making it a favourite for tight city blocks.
Benefits:
- Grows quickly and thickly, perfect for screening out neighbours.
- Naturally psyllid-resistant, so fewer pests compared to traditional lilly pillies.
- Low maintenance, responds well to clipping into neat hedges.
Best planted: In inner-city and suburban areas like Brunswick, Coburg, St Kilda and Footscray, where space is tight but privacy is a must.
Waterhousia Floribunda (Weeping Lilly Pilly)
When you love your neighbours but don’t need to see them all the time, Waterhousia is your answer. This is Melbourne’s quickest growing evergreen screen, with soft weeping foliage and a lush, full habit.
Benefits:
- Fastest-growing option for quick privacy.
- Soft, cascading foliage looks beautiful and natural.
- Excellent for large blocks or where you need to screen out apartment buildings.
Best planted: In family gardens across Doncaster, Glen Waverley, and Balwyn, or anywhere apartments and multi-storey buildings may be close by.
Ficus Flash
Ficus Flash is known for its lush, glossy green foliage and its ability to create an instant tropical look. It’s fast-growing, hardy, and versatile for both formal and informal gardens.
Benefits:
- Strong growth rate with a lush, evergreen screen.
- Can be clipped into a neat hedge or left more natural.
- Excellent for creating structured, formal looks.
Things to consider: Ficus can be sensitive to frost in colder Melbourne suburbs, especially during their younger years, so perform best in slightly more protected locations.
Best planted: In Camberwell, Malvern, or Toorak, where established gardens benefit from their lush, glossy appearance and long growing season.
Magnolias (Little Gem & Teddy Bear)
Magnolias are timeless evergreens that add elegance and year-round structure, with the bonus of stunning flowers. Little Gem has a narrower habit, while Teddy Bear is more compact with rounded, glossy leaves.
Benefits:
- Evergreen with rich green foliage and beautiful large flowers.
- Perfect for classic gardens with a heritage feel.
- Low maintenance once established.
Best planted: In the inner eastern suburbs like Kew, Hawthorn, Canterbury and Surrey Hills, where heritage homes and classic designs are complemented by the elegance of magnolias.
Choosing the Right Evergreen Screen for Your Melbourne Lanscaping Project.
When selecting screening plants, consider your space, soil type, and the overall look you want to achieve.
- For narrow spaces, choose Tolley’s Upright Olive.
- For fast privacy in urban areas, go with Backyard Bliss.
- For large properties overlooked by buildings, plant Waterhousia.
- For a lush, glossy evergreen screen, try Ficus Flash.
- For classic heritage gardens, magnolias like Little Gem or Teddy Bear are unmatched.
Each of these plants offers year-round greenery, reliable growth, and a touch of character that suits Melbourne’s diverse garden styles. With the right choice, your garden can be private, beautiful, and thriving all year long.
