Hi Pos,

I believe that we had the same question in the 'Trees and Shrubs' forum, but its an issue dear to my heart.

When you say 'the house faces West', we still cant discount the possiblity that some of your 'hedge' will have to be able to take a significant amount of shade due to the angle of the sun, other plantings etc, and my own situation led me to the dwarf Melaleuca. I'm sure that, as you say, Leptospermum would also be a good choice - I'd be looking for anything which had a naturally narrow habit, could be pruned hard and often, and yet still attained the height you need. Some species of bamboo may also fit the bill, though I'm not sure how well they do if subjected to 3 months of mostly-shaded conditions (my troublespot is the side of the house, and its particularly difficult to cater to the sun's different positioning with the seasons).

Some of the lillipillies have been bred specifically to cater for narrow locations - the trade names escape me at the moment, but they are a plant which will handle the hot sun/deep shade contradiction that many of us are faced with at different times of the year.

As in the other post, I would have to say 'plant for the sun' - plants which will tolerate large periods of shade rarely handle the full blast of the Western sun.

Cheers,

Artie

Thanks Artie. I will look into your suggestions. You are right about the shade, especially in the morning, but I agree that we need to plant for the sun, considering that the North sun will beat down on this area throughout the year from about 11am onwards. I am not looking to completely block the sun from the house, so it is OK if they grow a little bit sparse.

I'd take a look at your local native plants from the rainforest margin / dry rainforest niche. "Edge specialists" tend to be good at the sun vs shade job. They often like to start life in the shade, and then grow up to be good sun-tolerant plants with canopy - screening abilities, though still liking their feet in the shade. The habitat tends to produce a lot of flexible plants which can be little trees (3-4 metres) or can be kept as shrubs by annual pruning. They also don't have the greedy roots of wet rainforest plants. They're generally happy to share with other plants, and don't heave up the foundations.
A few good ones from my area - Toowoomba - are
Alchornia ilicifolia, Holly Dovewood
Alectryon diversifolius, Scrub Boonaree
Hodgkinsonia ovatifolia, Golden Ash
Maytenus species, Orangebarks
Pavetta australiansis, Butterfly bush
Petalostigma species, Quinine berries
Psychotria species
Turraea pubescens, Native Witch Hazel.
Have you thought of putting in a trellis? Native climbers - especially those from drier rainforest, might be easier to keep to your desired width.
Trish

You might look at Viminaria juncaea or Golden Spray. These grow to about 4-5m and are usually quite narrow. They look something like the She Oaks/Allocasurina except the needle are all pointing up and are much greener.

They are a riparian plant and ss long as the blind side of your house does not get really dry in summer then they would be worth a try. Assuming you can get them up there at a local indigenous nursery.

They are actually a member of the Fabaceae family and are covered with yellow pea flowers in spring.

Another species you might look at is Bursaria spinosa / Sweet Bursaria / Native Box. Also usually grows quite tall and narrow and is covered in masses of tiny white fragrant flowers in spring/summer.