Plant group
Sixteen shrubs from 0.5 m to 4 m with mature sizes, water needs, soil tolerances and the failure each one is most prone to.
Last reviewed 12 March 2027
Shrubs do the structural work in a garden. They hold the shape of a bed through the year, screen what needs screening, break wind at the height it does the most damage, and fill the space between groundcover and canopy. They are also the plants people most often place badly, because the difference between a 1 m shrub and a 3 m shrub is invisible at the point of purchase.
Work in this order: mature width, then drainage tolerance, then water need, then everything else. Width decides whether the plant crowds a path, a window or its neighbour, and it is not negotiable by pruning — a shrub that wants to be 2.5 m wide and is cut to 1.2 m every year for a decade becomes woody, hollow and thin. Measure the bed with a tape before you choose.
Drainage tolerance is the constraint that kills silently. Species listed here as needing free drainage — Eremophila glabra, Banksia spinulosa, Philotheca myoporoides — will fail in ground that stays saturated for more than a day after rain, and no amount of compost dug into the planting hole changes that. In heavy clay, either raise the bed 200 to 300 mm above surrounding grade or choose from the wet-tolerant group: Callistemon citrinus and Melaleuca thymifolia are the two dependable options here.
Plant shrubs so that mature canopies just touch, not overlap. In a hedge, that means spacing at roughly two-thirds of mature width so the plants knit, but no closer. Tighter spacing does not produce a denser hedge faster; it produces competition, thin bases and plants that fail one at a time in the third or fourth year, leaving gaps that are very difficult to fill.
Cut hedges with a slight taper — narrower at the top than the bottom — so the lower foliage gets light. A hedge cut with vertical or overhanging sides goes bare at the base within a few years, and once the base is bare on most species it stays bare. This matters most in humid subtropical gardens, where dense outer shells with no air movement through them are the specific condition the climate punishes.
Every shrub on this page, including the low-water ones, needs regular water for its first two summers. Drought tolerance is a property of an established root system, not of a plant in a 150 mm pot. Water deeply twice a week rather than lightly every day; a soak that wets the profile to 300 mm draws roots downward, while a daily sprinkle keeps them in the top 50 mm where soil is hottest and driest.
After the second summer, taper deliberately. Low-water species should come off irrigation entirely in temperate, arid and cool zones; continuing to water them through summer keeps warm soil wet around the roots, which is how most established natives are actually lost. Moderate and regular-water species stay on. Group them accordingly rather than mixing water needs on one line.
Prune spring-flowering shrubs immediately after flowering finishes, because next season's buds form on the growth made in the weeks afterwards. Prune summer-flowering shrubs in late winter. Cut back to a node, take whole branches out at their origin when you want to open up a dense plant, and avoid shearing the outside of a shrub that is already too dense inside — that makes the shell thicker and the interior worse. Full detail is in pruning by plant type.
Most natives on this list respond well to light, frequent tip pruning and badly to hard cuts into bare old wood. Grevillea and Eremophila in particular do not shoot reliably from wood with no leaves on it. Saltbushes are the exception: Atriplex and Rhagodia can be cut back hard in late winter and will refurnish from the base.
Sizes below are mature height and width in open ground in average conditions. Plants in containers, in shade, or in poor soil finish smaller.
Correa alba
The default front-line coastal shrub in southern Australia. Dense grey-green rounded foliage, small white bell flowers through autumn and winter, and genuine tolerance of salt wind and pure sand. Clips well if you want a soft informal hedge. Give it drainage; it will not accept heavy soil that stays wet in winter.
Zones: temperate, cool, subtropical
Westringia fruticosa
Fine grey foliage on a naturally rounded shrub that takes clipping better than almost anything else on this list, which is why it has largely replaced box in exposed positions. Flowers lightly year round. Needs full sun to stay dense; in shade it opens out and becomes leggy within two seasons.
Zones: temperate, subtropical, arid
Callistemon citrinus
One of very few reliable shrubs for heavy soil that stays damp after rain. Crimson brushes in spring and often again in autumn. Tolerates periodic waterlogging, compaction and coastal exposure. Prune immediately after flowering, taking the spent brushes and about 100 mm of stem behind them, or it becomes woody and sparse.
Zones: tropical, subtropical, temperate, cool
Banksia spinulosa
Upright banksia for poor sandy ground, with gold to bronze cylindrical flowers through autumn and winter. It resents rich soil and root disturbance far more than it resents drought, so plant it into unimproved ground, mulch it, and then leave the root zone alone permanently.
Zones: temperate, subtropical
Leptospermum scoparium
Wiry, thoroughly cold-hardy shrub carrying a heavy flush of small flowers in spring. Useful as an informal screen in cool and temperate districts and tolerant of coastal exposure. It is genuinely short-lived: expect ten to fifteen years and plan the bed so its removal does not leave a hole in the structure.
Zones: temperate, cool
Melaleuca thymifolia
A small mounding melaleuca for damp low spots where drainage is imperfect but not permanently stagnant. Fine foliage and curious mauve claw-shaped flowers over a long season. Responds well to a hard cut back to about a third of its height every few years, which keeps the base furnished.
Zones: subtropical, temperate
Grevillea lanigera
Low spreading grevillea from cold country and the most frost-reliable of the commonly grown grevilleas. Grey woolly foliage with pink and cream flowers in winter and spring. Needs full sun and sharp drainage. Tip prune lightly and often rather than cutting into old wood, which regrows poorly.
Zones: cool, temperate
Philotheca myoporoides
Neat, aromatic-leaved shrub that prefers dappled shade and sharp drainage, with white star flowers opening from pink buds in late winter. It sulks in heavy clay and is best in a raised bed or on a slope. Light pruning after flowering keeps it compact rather than open and woody.
Zones: temperate, cool
Rhagodia spinescens
Silver mounding saltbush that holds its shape on hot exposed banks with no supplementary water at all once established. Tolerates alkaline and mildly saline soils and heavy clay as readily as sand. Shear it back by a third in late winter every second year to stop the centre opening up.
Zones: arid, temperate
Atriplex nummularia
The default large screening shrub for dry inland gardens. Big grey-green leaves on a fast open frame, tolerant of saline and alkaline soils that defeat most plants. Allow the full three metres of width. Cut it back hard in late winter every few years to keep it furnished to the ground.
Zones: arid, temperate
Eremophila glabra
Dry-country shrub with a very long flowering season in yellow, red or green depending on form. Wants sharp drainage above everything else and dies quickly in wet clay, so keep it out of irrigated beds and lawns. Prune lightly after the main flush; it does not shoot readily from bare wood.
Zones: arid, temperate
Alyogyne huegelii
Fast open shrub carrying large mauve hibiscus-like flowers through spring and summer. Useful for filling a new garden quickly while slower structure plants establish. Brittle in strong wind and cut back hard by frost, so give it a sheltered position and treat it as a medium-term rather than permanent planting.
Zones: temperate, subtropical, arid
Prostanthera ovalifolia
Heavy purple spring flowering on a shrub that wants dappled shade rather than full sun. Roots are shallow and close to the surface, so mulch well and never let it dry out completely in its first summers. Prune immediately after flowering, cutting no further back than the current season's growth.
Zones: temperate, cool
Gardenia jasminoides
Warm-climate shrub for sheltered beds in the tropics and subtropics, with heavily scented white flowers over a long summer season. Wants regular water and warm, well-drained soil. Yellowing leaves are almost always a sign of cold or compacted soil around the roots rather than a feeding problem.
Zones: tropical, subtropical
Camellia sasanqua
Takes considerably more sun than the japonica camellias and clips readily into an informal screen or espalier, flowering through autumn. Prefers a slightly acid, well-drained soil with steady moisture. Prune straight after flowering finishes; buds for the following autumn form on growth made in spring.
Zones: temperate, cool, subtropical
Buxus microphylla
The standard clipped edging shrub in cooler districts, slow-growing and reliably dense under regular trimming. It is thirstier than its reputation suggests in its first few years and performs poorly in hot dry sites, where Westringia is the better substitute. Trim twice a season for a crisp edge.
Zones: temperate, cool
Check that any species you are considering is not a declared weed in your state or region, and check current biosecurity restrictions with your state or territory service before moving plants, seed, soil or cuttings between states or regions. Where a shrub has sap that may irritate skin, wear gloves when pruning.