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nz Friday, April 16, 2010 TARANAKI DAILY NEWS 13

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Gumpo or Kurume azaleas are the small-leaf, low-growing, evergreen azaleas. They have good

1 2
Lonicera nitida ticks all the right boxes bar one, but that is Myrtus ugni, usually referred to as the New Zealand foliage – though the leaves are larger than buxus – clip well, can be kept small and have excellent
an important one. It has good dark colour, tiny leaves, is cranberry, has lovely little leaves, is easy to strike from shade tolerance. They flower, which some gardeners may not want. Gumpos tend to have larger
easy to propagate, cheap . . . but it grows so rapidly that you cutting, easy to train and can be kept low. It also has flowers than the Kurumes. The big disadvantages are the expense per plant (which will be prohibitive
will have to clip frequently. This may be as much as once a month delicious fruit, but can develop bare patches, so it’s really only an for many gardeners) and the difficulty in sourcing large-enough runs of the same variety. Evergreen
in the growing season. It will get very twiggy and leggy if you option for the edible garden area. It also doesn’t like shade and azaleas are much easier to strike from cutting than most rhododendrons, so keen home gardeners with
don’t keep it tightly clipped. can be thrip-prone. a long-term view may want to try building the population up at home.

Alternatives to buxus
hedging – a step-by-step
guide with Abbie Jury

W
ith buxus blight

5
cutting a There are assorted selections of
swathe through small-leaved euonymus being hailed
many city and coastal as buxus replacements, including one
gardens, it is clear the named Emerald Gem. These look very
problem is here to stay. promising, but international reports are
I’ve set out to review that euonymus are somewhat disease
some of the alternative prone. We would recommend trying
plant options with help this as hedging in a modest way before
from Carol Ingram at getting too carried away. It should be
Fairfields and Brian relatively easy to root cuttings and is
Avison at Big Jims. The sometimes available in a hedging and Thats Handy Hardware
advantages of box for grade at a reasonable price. Options
low hedging is that it such as corokia and selected
only needs to be trimmed pittosporums will make good taller Get it at
once or possibly twice a hedges, but you are fighting
year, it has a very small
leaf, a good dark green
nature to keep them to the low
level of edging buxus. Their
The Girlz
colour, sprouts from

bare wood if trimmed
hard and is so easy to
root from cutting that it
is cheap to buy and easy
for home gardeners to
propagate themselves. It
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will also tolerate a
certain amount of shade.
Sadly, there is no like-
for-like replacement,
only plants that fit some
is important. Camellias are not easy to root from cutting for the home gardener and can be
expensive to buy. Microphylla and brevistyla set seed freely, so could be raised from seed at
of the criteria.
50%
leaves are also correspondingly
larger. The compact pittosporums
– Golf Ball, pictured here, and
similar selections – make a quick
option for clipping balls and topiary,
if you don’t mind the paler shade of
green. Keep them in full sun with
Off
Selected Citrus
Some of the slow growing, small-leafed camellia varieties are suitable, though the leaves will plenty of air movement, too. Other
be larger than buxus. They trim well, resprout from bare wood and are a good colour. There suggestions include muhlenbeckia,
is a limited number suitable for keeping down to a metre or even 30cm, so varietal selection
Myrsine divaricata or a new dwarf
corokia, but we have yet to hear of
hedges that have stood the test of time –
30%

Photos: JONATHAN CAMERON

home if you can find a parent plant. We featured brevistyla in Plant Collector last week. Itty Bit,
pictured here, is a true miniature for low hedges. Night Rider is also suitable but, though very slow
growing, is ultimately larger in size. You could keep it to a metre, but it will be expensive to buy.
by which we mean 10 years, not one.
There are no easy answers for a
replacement for buxus.
Off
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