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FREQUENTLY ASKED
QUESTIONS |
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Screening
Plants
Local Plants for Screening |
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There are any number
of internet pages on screening plants. This page is about using the
local plants of our local area - centred on Busselton, Western
Australia - for living plant screens. All species listed on this
page are in our current nursery list apart from Muehlenbeckia
adpressa.
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X Y Z |
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Choose
a height for a screen planting
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The What We Grow page shows all the species
our nursery grows grouped into sizes, and growth habits.
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The online and paper (Word doc download) 2010 Nursery
Lists have size and utility indications that
should help with selecting species for screening.
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Choose
appropriate plants
(for
the location)
This is mainly to do with wet and
dry sites, but also includes coastal sites, ...
The online and paper nursery lists should help here. Double-check
that the species are suitable for your site.
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Varieties of screens
- A large screen using trees and large shrubs
- A medium-sized screens using shrubs to about 2 metres in
height
- Trellised screens using climbing and scrambling species
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Large
screens
A large screen can be created with our local
species using just one species - Agonis flexuosa, our
Peppermint Tree. However, a mixed planting using shrubs selected
from the large shrubs list on the What We Grow page will also create an
effective large screen.
Suggestions:
Agonis flexuosa
Acacia rostellifera
Acacia saligna
Beyeria viscosa
Callitris preissii
Hakea oleifolia
Kunzea glabrescens
Melaleuca lanceolata
Melaleuca viminea
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Medium screens to 2
metres
Suggestions:
Acacia cochlearis
Acacia cyclops
Acacia littorea
Acacia myrtifolia
Calothamnus graniticus
Dodonaea ceratocarpa
Gastrolobium bilobum
Kunzea ciliata
Melaleuca incana
Melaleuca systena
Olearia axillaris
Spyridium globulosum
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Screens on a trellis
Some of our climbing and scrambling species
can be trained up a trellis to create an effective screen. The
easiest species are probably:
Billardiera fusiformis
Hardenbergia comptoniana (strong trellis required)
Kennedia coccinea
Rhagodia baccata
but the patient could attempt
Enchylaena tomentosa
Clematis pubescens
Clematis linearifolia
Chorizema diversifolium, etc.
More on the Climbing
Plants of our area.
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Screening plants for winter-wet
sites
Suggestions - larger
species:
Astartea
leptophylla
Banksia littoralis
Callistachys lanceolata
Hakea linearis
Melaleuca lateriflora ssp. acutifolia
Melaleuca preissiana
Melaleuca rhaphiophylla
Melaleuca viminea
Taxandria linearifolia
Trymalium odoratissimum ssp. trifidum
Suggestions - medium-sized
species:
Acacia
divergens
Astartea scoparia
Callistemon glaucus
Hakea lasianthoides
Hakea varia
Kunzea recurva
Melaleuca incana
Melaleuca osullivanii
Melaleuca teretifolia
Regelia ciliata
Taxandria fragrans
Taxandria parviceps
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Screening plants for coastal
sites
Suggestions - larger
species:
Acacia cyclops #
Acacia littorea #
Acacia rostellifera
Acacia saligna
Beyeria viscosa
Callitris preissii
Hakea oleifolia
Melaleuca huegelii #
Melaleuca lanceolata
Suggestions - medium-sized
species:
Acacia cochlearis
Acacia cyclops #
Acacia littorea #
Dodonaea ceratocarpa
Hakea prostrata
Hibbertia cuneiformis
Melaleuca huegelii #
Melaleuca systena
Olearia axillaris
Scaevola nitida
Spyridium globulosum
Templetonia retusa
#
= sorry for the confusion, but these species are listed twice
because they have unpredictable sizes depending on the site,
etc.
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Hedges as
screens
We don't know much about the
suitability of our species for hedges, but some of our local
species seem to have potential as hedging species. A hedge is
usually made from one species, close-planted along the
length of the intended hedge, and pruned from an early age
to promote multiple stems and dense growth.
Many of our local smaller species are also suitable
for low hedges, but they are not listed here as this page is
concerning with screening, and screens are usually at least 2
metres high.
Stand-alone hedges -
suggestions:
Adriana quadripartita
Beyeria viscosa
Calothamnus graniticus
Calothamnus quadrifidus
Dodonaea ceratocarpa
Gastrolobium bilobum
Kunzea ciliata
Melaleuca huegelii
Melaleuca incana
Melaleuca lanceolata
Melaleuca systena
Melaleuca thymoides (a bit prickly)
Melaleuca viminea
Olearia axillaris
Spyridium globulosum
Taxandria parviceps
Templetonia retusa
Fence hedges - plants trained onto a strong fence.
Suggestions:
As mentioned in the section
on Screens on a trellis above, some
of our species can make an effective hedge if close-planted along a
sturdy fence.
Billardiera fusiformis
Hardenbergia comptoniana
Muehlenbeckia adpressa
[Muehlenbeckia adpressa is a naturally suckering
species, so care needs to be taken with placement.
It is probably best not used as a hedge between two
houses! There are photos of this species as
an intentional and as an unintentional hedge on our Climbing Plants
page.]
Rhagodia
baccata
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A BRILLIANT FLOWERING
HEDGE
Gastrolobium bilobum
Heart-leaf Poison
Gastrolobium
bilobum makes a brilliant hedge plant to over 2 metres, but
as the common name suggests, the plant is poisonous (it is
extremely poisonous).
It is not poisonous to native animals, but it is poisonous to
sheep, goats, cows, horses, etc. and has been used as the source of
the poison 1080 which has been used for rabbit and fox
control.
Although the poison 1080 is used for possum control in New Zealand
(where possums are an introduced pest), the growing plant is not
likely to poison our possums here - possums are particularly fussy
about their plant food, and would be deterred by the tiniest
taste.
Sodium
fluoroacetate in the Wikipedia.
Most poisonous plants used in horticulture have this inbuilt
advantage - of being extremely unpalatable. This quality is
advantageous also for children, but the usual cautions need to be
applied.
As a hedging plant, it can be pruned hard, and trimmed to shape. It
needs to be close-planted along the hedge line, in a zig-zag
planting style, like so:
x
x x x
x x x
x
x x x
x x
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A Gastrolobium hedge (Quindalup) backed by a
line of Acacia
littorea.
Photos: Richard Clark 15th November
2009
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THE
SEE-THROUGH SCREEN
Most of the species listed above create a
dense screen, but some of our local species can be used to
advantage to create a light screen.
Suggestions (the common names help
here):
Bossiaea
linophylla is especially graceful with its weeping habit.
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You may like to look at our first
attempt - a bit long-winded! Screening Plants 2 |
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Back to the main FAQ page
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