Hello Gum Tree, Unless they are cultivars of Acmena smithii var. minor, they will most likely be prone to psyllid attack. I have this species with a cultivar name of "Hot Flush" that would probably be suitable for you. Mine have small white fruit and I have not had to weed out any of these, nor have they caused any nuisance such as you have itemised. I have mulch underneath, and I DO get stacks of "Golden Rain" tree volunteers from the row planted by the Council as street trees across the road. So the "Hot Flush" is obviously not going to be a weedy tree. Cheers, Frank

Syzygium oleosum, blue lilly pilly would be ideal, fast growing, 3-4m. Try Landcare for plants as I don't think you will get them in nurseries.

I have to agree with Jane.
I bought tibouchinas from these guys. They were fantastic with advice and incredibly helpful. I highly reccommend them.
I didnt even have to go to whoopedewhoop to see them, they sent them COD!

http://www.loganrivertreefarm.com.au/Plants.html

Hi All,

Personally, I'd avoid the Acmena species in the full Qld sun - I find that their small leaves get absolutely fried in the afternoon. I've been forced to relocate all of my Acmena Smithii to shaded areas, and I lost a beautiful Hemilampra to the Rocky sun about 12 months ago.

Aussie Southern and Aussie Northern do a much better job in our climate. Elites are also a good choice, as is Oleosum - we dont have a problem getting any of these from nurseries in Rocky.

Cheers,

Artie

Gum Tree,

I live in the Toowoomba district and have Acmena in full sun. I have not had any problem with leaves burning - first I've heard of it. Artie's problem may arise because of the hotter, drier climate/drying winds in Rockhampton? Perhaps the Gold Coast's humidity would eliminate this problem.

By all means try Syzygium oleosum. Staff at a local nursery here advised me that this species tends to be more resistant to psyllids, though not immune, and pointed me to a tree on its property. I think it still had some.

Did your nursery's staff say anything about salt-laden winds and ask how close you were to the beach?

Cheers,
Frank

Hi everyone thanks for all your replies.

I went into several nurseries and looked at all the different available varieties, in the end I couldn't resist the Hinterland Gold, I'm getting 21 (300ml pots) delivered today. I decided I'll just give them a regular prune to hopefully prevent psyllids. I am going to plant these along my eastern side. I also bought 7 grevilleas to plant along the southern fence for the birds.

I'll keep you up to date and let you know how the Hinterland Gold goes.

Thanks again for all your advice.

Gum Tree

Good choice, gum tree - Hinterland Gold is a beauty. Between my last garden and the current effort, I planted roughly 60 lillipillies of various denominations, and Hinterland Gold has a nice habit and is a very pretty shade of green, IMO.

Like Frank S I live in Toowoomba and haven't had any problem with Acmena (smithii) in full sun. The air couldn't have been any drier than it was here this September! We did have rain before the worst of the heat, though.

Those of you in Toowoomba are probably in more danger of losing plants to frost than heat ! (yes, I have been to Toowoomba in summer - spent 3 years with the Army at Oakey - but Rocky is a whole other spectrum of long, hot days).

Right on both counts Artie ;-)

But my point was that the Gold Coast would probably also be a lot more amenable to Acmena smithii than Rocky would. We had around 40 degree days at Christmas time without rain and some of my plants were wilting (not having been watered because of the drought) but the Acmena smithii trees I have withstood that, without a problem.

Cheers,
Frank

Hi
Does anyone know which Lilly Pilly this one is?
Thanks

Here is a link that might be useful:

I am looking to plant Lilly Pillies along a back fence to block out a huge house that looks down in our backyard. Very intrusive. the property is in Sorrento which is beachside Mornington Peninsula It has been suggested that I plant Hinterland gold or Waterhousea

Any comments / advice would be appreciated

I hope it's okay to,bump this thread.

My landscaper has recommended Lilly Pilly Hinterland Gold as a privacy screen against double strorey units overlooking our backyard.

Can anyone answer the OP's questions about their full height, resistant to bugs, etc?

Like beauty, unsightliness is in the eye of the beholder, I suspect. Those gardeners who wish to have Australian native birds as part of their gardens could do worse than holding the spray on the psyllids. A number of small bird species, including the delightful Pardalotes, enjoy a good feed of pyllids & can save gardeners money by controlling these critters free of charge.

Most of the small native birds in my area: wrens, various honeyeaters, (Eastern spinbill, White-necked honeyeater), Hooded robin, the coucal pheasant, even the Fig bird, and spangled drongo have, or have almost long ago departed this area on account of ignorant/careless folks having introduced Indian Mynas. This coupled with the proliferation the aggressive native noisy miners, crows attracted to the area by neighbours breeding fowls and the keeping of pet cats and dogs will inevitably see the end of them within the foreseeable future. Foxes, too, by the way and introduced cane toads have also taken their fair share. What little spray I've used to enhance the growth of my NATIVE plants have had, if any, a very negative affect on the avian or other native wildlife population. Cat owner are you Woko?

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.

Your last paragraph, woko: Unfortunately I doubt that will happen. By the way, I garden on 2 acres in a semi-rural area with still a goodly amount of native bushland remaining but also much has been taken over by Camphor laurel trees. Also, many former pet cats have gone wild in the bush and together with foxes and 'farmer's' weeds they really have devastated the native fauna and flora. Only suburban development will check that, though won't help the wildlife.

You're probably right, blckrose. Too many noses stuck in too many idevices to even notice what's happening, I fear. Still, I'll keep trying. It's amazing how many people in my neighbourhood are planting indigenous vegetation with some excellent wildlife results. E.g., we now have a family of Euros in our neighbourhood & Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo numbers have increased markedly. Just those two events have been well worth the effort.

All this is some distance from Lilly Pillies but, nevertheless, related indirectly, at least.

Well if the original enquirer, gum_tree, hasn't found a solution by now I doubt he/ she ever will; she (I'll presume female) started the string over ten years ago. Nice to see some reversal in the ecological trend is happening where you are, woko. There are isolated movements to re-connect with the natural environment but of course it'll never be what it originally was.

That's the really sad part about the environmental destruction that's occurring, blckrose. The amazing community of interacting plants & wildlife that make up a natural ecological system can never be any where near fully restored. Once broken it's broken forever, unlike a human-made structure which can be virtually fully rebuilt if broken or burned. The damage done to the natural environment can only be partly rectified which is what's happening to a degree where I live in SA. But I'm teaching you to suck eggs, blckrose. Unfortunately, few Australians have this awareness.

Yes, that's proved to be life, woko, we've (we, so-called civilised) make/made a footprint and no matter how hard we try (have we tried hard enough?) have been unable to eradicate it. Even the aboriginals - our primitive selves really - have irreparable altered the nature of things.