Camellia japonica is very good for hedges. I know big hedges of Camellia japonica in Galicia (Spain). But this annual growth, which you want for your Camellias, I believe that she is not possible. To obtain one I peeped or more of annual growth only can be obtained in very good conditions of culture. And a lot of varieties grow towards the sides and little in vertically. In the collection of more than three hundred elderly and modern Camellias of Soutomaior's Castle, it is possible to observe the growth of many of you them will cultivate. Good varieties of vertical growth: MORNING GLOW, PRESTON ROSE, ORANDA-KO AND SAWADA. The densest hedges and more recortables for having the small leaves, are obtained by species of Camellia as: Camellia sasanqua, Camellia vernalis or Camellia wabisuke Camellia japonica cv.'SAWADA' The Camellias grow very much, but they need many years to develop her height. In order that they grow well you have to obtain: To cultivate adapted. Appropriate climate. Appropriate soil Good fertilization. Good taken care of gardening. Good luck. The best thing that you can do is to buy Camellias of the definitive size. To give form to the Camellia and to support them in the height that you want. Camellia's plants, which stand out as hedge, lose many flowering. The flowers are born in the apexes of the branches. Due to this circumstance, it gets used to planting hedges, the Camellias of simple flower, obtained of seeds. Pardon for my evil English. Regards. Here is a link that might be useful: Camellias in A Toxa

Oh sure, silversword, you have to recommend Gardenias and then give me that post to read. Ha! Ha! I only made it as far as the August 3rd posts, but I intend to read a little more at each sitting. Boy is it funny/eye opening. I, being a Gemini, get bored easily and can't finish things so I just skimmed a little to see how far the thread went. I happened upon the reply from "Jim" who was giving his wife a Gardenia bush for Mother's Day and then he was printing out the entire thread and writing "sorry" on top of it and running. That was so funny! I guess I am pretty stupid because even after reading all that, I am going to have to get a Gardenia at some point. I was sold on the description of the scent. I am just not sure I will actually try to grow one. I would probably do better to just have one and toss it aside like the Freesia. For some reason anything I try to actually put love into and take care of, dies on me, whereas anything I just neglect thrives. Perhaps my plants are suicidal too. The title of the thread reminded me of something Jerry Seinfeld says in his book Seinlanguage and it makes me laugh every time I read it: "I have no plants in my house. They won't live for me. Some of them don't even wait to die, they commit suicide. I once came home found one hanging from a macrame noose, the pot kicked out from underneath. The note said, "I hate you and your albums." It's so funny to think of plants as human. I'm screwed though because I am definitely a sucker for a good-smelling plant. The house we bought has some kind of lilac that blooms in the spring and fall. It is pathetic looking (not like back home) but I never grow tired of smelling it and reminding me of home. And I love the Freesia because it smells like Froot Loops (which reminds me of my childhood). The roses that I dug up were sad looking and not very pretty plus the fragrance was not that great. The funny thing is that I have NEVER been a flower person. My husband likes to do romantic gestures like buy flowers for me, but he won't buy roses on Valentine's Day because they cost much more than any other day of the year. So he likes to surprise me with flowers some other day. I am fine with that because we have a cat who tries to eat ANYTHING that looks like plant matter. I can't even have Easter grass in baskets because the dummy will eat it. So roses cannot be enjoyed because they have to spend so much time behind closed doors and I am not really one of "those" women who requires candy and flowers on Valentine's Day or birthdays, etc. I might give that Little John some consideration somewhere around the house because I adore watching the hummingbirds. :-)

Hi Ritholtz - Leylands are beautiful trees. If you want to trim them that short, they may be more prone to disease over time. It's better to find a plant that you can prune a bit closer to it's mature height. Maybe other can weigh in on this? Neil Sperry says never to "top" a tree. Because I read recently that Neil Sperry (or Howard Garrett) no longer recommends Leyland Cypress for Texas, I marked it off of my consideration list (arborvitae's are prone to a lot of insects?). Because of that, I am focusing more on junipers. You can google evergreen plant nursery for dimensions, "mature" rate, etc... If you are interested, I would do some further research. Last night I was looking at some videos of Wax Myrtle on youtube. I recommend checking the videos and google "wax myrtle trees" images. Yes, they do need to be pruned and trained as a tree (some people want them to grow more as a shrub). They take really well to pruning so it is possible to make them look like a nice tree. I found some really nice ones. Right now, I'm looking at the Majestic Beauty Indian Hawthorne; It grows to the right dimensions, is evergreen, drought tolerant. I would have to find a larger size since it is only moderate growing... Here's what I'm doing - a combination of spartan juniper, Nellie Steven's Holly, Blue Point Juniper, Majestic Beauty Indian Hawthorne, and Cleveland Pear (hardier version of the Bradford Pear - a bit larger and still very dense). I know some people hate the pears but I think they are "well-groomed" and provide good density. Cleveland is less prone to blowing over in an ice storm. Also, according to Neil Sperry, they have a moderate lifespan (25-50 years) and fast growing. In all these trees, I'm taking into consideration - hardiness, drought resistance, density (for privacy) and beauty. I've been reading Neil Sperry's gardening book to help narrow down choices; I recommend it! Hope you can find some answers!

most of those aren't native plants. The native ones that I recognise are: Ajuga reptans; Casuarina nana; Grevillea 'Molonglo'; Myoporum parvifolium; Rulingia hermanniifolia; Scaevola aemula; Scaevola albida; Scleranthus biflorus; I've never had much luck with scleranthus, neither in Canberra nor Melbourne. It seems to died from under watering and over watering too easily. Investigate your council tip and see if they have big piles of old chipped garden waste. As long as it is dark brown and doesn't have any obvious weeds growing in it,it should be find to use as a soil conditioner. You can probably pay someone to deliver a truckload of the stuff for a tuppence and spread that out. Avoid fresh mulches like woodchip or pine bark, as they are loaded with tannins which stunt growth, and pull the nitrogen out of the soil. Another possible mulch is road metal, which is cheap, readily available and looks quite interesting (to me, anyway). You can usually get blue metal (a kind of basalt) or granite. Canberra should also still sell 'granitic sand', a form of decomposed granite which makes a dense layer (though often contains a fair amount of clay). Start saving those newspapers!