Choosing plants for tricky spots
When buying plants for the garden it’s tempting
to just grab what looks good at the time. This
sometimes works out, but if you’re after a plant
for a difficult situation – such as heavy or boggy
soil, salt spray and wind, or heavy shade – it’s
worth doing a bit more research before making
your purchase. A chapter in the latest (42nd)
edition of Yates Garden Guide, with the apt title
Plants for Special Conditions, provides some
tried-and-true suggestions for those tricky
spots. Examples are:
For seaside gardens:
Coast banksia – Varies from a stunted
shrub to a tall tree, depending on
conditions, and has soft yellow flower
cones in winter.
Tuckeroo (Cupianopsis anacardioides)
is a fast-growing tree that is suitable for
warmer coastal areas.
Coprosma is often called mirror bush
because of its shiny leaves. Their
reflective surface not only bounces light,
it sheds the damaging salt that’s carried
in on the sea breezes.
Scaevola, or fan flower, is an Australian
native that comes in many forms. All
are low growing and some make pretty,
salt-tolerant ground covers with small
fleshy leaves and mauve/blue/pink or
white, fan-shaped flowers.
For shaded gardens:
Acanthus, known as oyster plant
because of its purple/white, shell-
shaped flowers, has dark, strongly-
lobed, dramatic-looking leaves.
Arthropodium, the New Zealand renga
renga lily, forms clumps of grey-green,
softly recurved leaves. Sprays of tiny
white flowers stand high above the
foliage through late spring and early
summer.
Bird’s nest fern (Asplenium
australasicum) forms a large, nest-
shaped rosette of shiny, slightly
leathery, pale-green radiating fronds. Its
shallow root system makes it ideal for
growing under trees.
For gardens in fire-risk areas:
Hibbertia (guinea flower) can be grown
as either a ground-covering scrambler
or a climber. Its slightly fleshy leaves
provide some fire (and salt) resistance.
Bright yellow flowers dot the plant in
spring and summer.
Cannas (pictured), with their showy,
tropical-looking blooms, grow well in
damp spots. Their moisture-filled leaves
are reluctant to burn.
Lillipillies, which come in numerous
forms and sizes, and other rainforest
plants are good planting choices for fire-
prone gardens.
There are many other excellent planting
suggestions to be found in Yates Garden
Guide. Also check www.yates.com.au for good
gardening information.
