I gave up on pittosporum because they were too fussy. they dont seem to like hot and dry so it could well be the drought.I think you should give it some more time and see if it comes good with a bit more water.it sounds similar to what mine did where the leaves and branches would start dying but I couldnt keep the water up to mine.

Pittosporum can be a bit 'ify'! I've had P. undulatum that looked great, gave great privacy from the neighbours but after about 8 years suddenly died. I had, and I think it's still growing, P. tobirum (variegated), P.rhombifolium 'Tom Thumb'and currently the native P. angustifolium. Some have thrived some have struggled, but to rely on one for privacy, I agree with redcryptonite, try something else.

Around here pittosporums (along with photinias) are very popular for privacy hedges.The only negative thing I'd previously heard was that P. Green Pillar is prone to mealy bugs. We have one (planted before we knew) and it had an infestation one year, which didn't seem to slow it down any.

I wish I could remember what variety the troublesome pittosporum is. When I remove the dead branches it looks reasonably good. It isn't drying out all around the edges as if it's a straightforward watering problem. It's not growing as fast as the older one but the older one got a good start long before the drought.

I think I'll see what happens this autumn. I need privacy for a bedroom window in a hurry so I'm really torn between persevering with a shrub that should be tall enough in another year or two or starting again. If I started again I was thinking of P. Screenmaster. Anyone have any longer term experience with that one? I was also thinking of planting a fast growing wattle in front to give privacy until the shrub catches up but I was worried that the extra shade would slow down its growth. Decisions, decisions.

Any suggestions for a dense fast-growing shrub to 4m that doesn't mind clay soil and drought and a temperature range of about -7 to 40 and doesn't have stinky photinia-like flowers. I'm not asking too much am I?

I reckon the good old Murraya (Sweet orange I think it's sometimes called) dense; nicely perfumed but not overpowering white flowers, a bit like orange or lemon blossoms; grows to about 5 or 6 metres, likes a bit of a trim now and again, fairly quick growing and definately hardy.

I'll check it out. Is it frost hardy? The number of times I've thought this looks promising and our frosts rule it out. I shouldn't complain. We get wonderful autumn foliage and spring bulbs in our climate.

Hi all - I have four pittosporum plants - 2 of the the purple tom thumb variety, the orange blossom variety and the varigated one. They've all done well for years but now the leaves on whole branches are turning spotty and brown and just dying. It almost looks like frost damage apart from the fact that the rest of the plant is OK. I'd welcome any thoughts. Thanks.

Top half of my pittosporum is still sparse and gappy while the bottom half is growing well.
I'm sorry I didn't realise there were any more posts on this thread. I've never seen tom thumb or orange blossom pittosporums here, perhaps they go by other names locally? Frost damage would be on the outer leaves and branches I think. We have temps down to -7â 19â and it hasn't caused any of our pittosporums any trouble and we have quite a few different ones. They are a very popular hedging shrub here. Although now I think of it, I remember reading that there are some varieties of pittosporum native to much milder climates. You would hope they would not sell those in areas not suitable. Oh, but frost would be more likely to affect plants when younger. I know there are some plants, other than pittosporums, which are considered fine for this area as long as they are protected for the first few years. So if the pittosporums did well for the first few years and then started to have problems that does not sound like frost. Well, as a couple of the other posters said, they can be a bit iffy, although in general they are very popular reliable plants here in my town.