Lilly Pilly Elite

20 years ago

What are your opinions on "Lilly pilly Elite - Syzygium paniculatum - selected form"?

I bought one of these yesterday to plant as a screen on the western side of my house. Label tells me very little. It does tell me that it is not susceptible to psyllid attack. However, while in the nursery I did see some of the leaves of this plant with psyllids on them.

I have searched google but am even more confused as it seems some paniculatum suffer badly with psyllids.

Could you please let me know approximate height and width of this plant? Does it suffer from psyllid attack? Is it fast growing? Is it a dense compact tree as the label says?

I might have to rethink the planned planting spot.

Thanks everyone.

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Comments (6)

artiew
20 years ago
Hi Amelie,

I have seen some magnificent Elites, well over 3 metres tall and extremely bushy (right to ground level), and I've seen some pretty sorry examples. Mine are currently doing well, but they are still young (new garden).

I guess we all know the drill by now : tip-prune regularly, and give the entire plant a tidy-up (no more than a third off) in Spring - thats about as complicated as it gets. Psyllids havent been a major issue with my own lillipillies, and I havent found them hard to control with Folimat. Given the huge number of potential pests that plants like Gardenias can attract, I think the psyllid is a small price to pay for a species which gives us so much.

Good luck,

Artie
Amelie
Original Author
20 years ago
Thanks Artie. Girl at the nursery mentioned a height of 8 metres - I always like to check this kind of info. I was hoping for about 5 metres in height.
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artiew
20 years ago
To be honest, I'm not sure exactly how large they will eventually grow, but the healthy specimens I mentioned earlier looked like they would easily form a tree in time, as opposed to the shrubbier lillipillies most people gravitate to in the home garden.
Amelie
Original Author
20 years ago
Thanks again Artie. I'll do some more research and hope I get some more responses/opinions from the knowledgable people on GardenWeb.
Amelie
Original Author
20 years ago
After a bit more research it looks like it's only going to grow to 3 metres. Girl at nursery was wrong (surprise, surprise). Might try to get a refund or swap it for something else ...
keithp
20 years ago
HI guys, my one of my Elites dropped all its leaves over winter and now is shooting new ones, the other two seem to be about to do the same; but the new leaves are now getting brown, dry patches starting at the edges, which led to the falling off originally. We bought these last Feb and planted them into clay pots now on the balcony, they get watered once a week. Any ideas about the leaves dying ?

Lilly Pilly Elite

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