I've two purple leaf shrub hebe's (planted from 7-8" pots last autumn). They have both grown-on well and flowered wonderfully late June/early July - then they just appear to have lost most leaves and look a sorry, dry mess. The only thing I've done to them (together with young buxus hedge plants and another couple of [different] purple leaf hebes that are currently in flower/very healthy leaf) is cover the area around/in between them with a light weed supressing membrane and 20mm slate chips What's happened and can I recover them?

See post WHAT NOW below

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

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