The photinia are narrower than the others but mine, and I've planted 3 I think (or maybe 4) and they completely cover at least 10 to 15 metres in width, I reckon. If you have a chance to visit the Sydney Royal Bot. Gardens there's a couple of very good examples of the Acmena and Syzygiums, they are quite old and gees, I reckon would easily cover the width you need and probably more. They are both quite attractive trees, acmena and syzygiums, more pleasing to the eye than the photinias but slower growing. You really need to see them, maybe Google might help there, to decide. There are other varieties of syzygium that would suit but if you do select other than above just be aware they may suffer psysillid attack, which while it won't kill the tree, can be quite ugly. Varieties of Syzygium Austral (I've been informed) are particularly prone. When you go to the nursery, just check the leaves for blistering, easy to detect, unless they've carried out a spraying programme. B

Thanks for the posts guys! I was just going off Lilly Pilly originally as that's what my neighbour thought it was. I'll definitely do some research on Viburnum odoratissimum now. Thanks again :)

Gosh, it seems there's huge ecological restoration needed in your neighbourhood, blckrose. You've certainly described an environmental disaster zone of monumentous proportions. All of those factors you mention have had enormous negative impacts on native wildlife thereby causing many people to reach for the sprays because natural controls are no longer present. As you would be aware, Noisy Miners have proliferated because of the massive clearance of native understorey thereby creating their preferred open woodland conditions. You might also be aware that a number of communities are now conducting Indian Mynah eradication programmes in order to encourage the return of native woodland birds, many species of which are threatened but provide wonderful environmental services such as control of insect pests if given the chance. Cat controls are also slowly gathering pace but, of course, much more is needed if we are to have a cat-free, native wildlife restoration culture in Australia. So if we are to reduce the impact & cost of sprays in our environment then the issue needs to be tackled on a very broad, multi-pronged front, as you are perhaps implying, blckrose.

If you're looking for a lilly-pilly/ syzygium of no more than medium height, you couldn't go past Acmena smithii minor 'cherry surprise', which is a particularly lovely one to 2 to 3 metres. It's an attractive deep green in colour, with pink to red tips. Another lovely one, though perhaps not as hardy, is Acmena variegata, which grows to 3 metres. Nice, natural shape, dense in leaf. There' also a number of syzygiums worth considering, just make sure they are psysilid resistant. In fact there is one on the market named 'Resilence'. Worth a try. B