Clay holds water and nutrients but drains slowly. Plant on a slight mound, mulch well, and avoid working the soil when wet. The natives here are chosen for genuine clay tolerance.
Native Plants for Melbourne Clay Soil
Melbourne's heavy clay defeats a lot of plants, but plenty of tough natives actually relish it. These cool-climate natives cope with clay's poor drainage and seasonal wet, and shrug off frost.
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Weeping Bottlebrush · Callistemon viminalis (Sol. ex Gaertn.) G.Don · from $3.95 A fast-growing, tough Australian native with weeping branches and brilliant red bottlebrush flowers — a reliable screening and bird-attracting plant for almost any soil. -
Blue Flax Lily 'Little Jess' · Dianella caerulea 'Little Jess' A compact, clumping strap-leaved flax lily with airy sprays of blue starry flowers followed by glossy purple berries. A tough, low-care mass-planting and border grass for sun or shade. -
Breeze Flax Lily · Dianella caerulea 'Breeze' A fine-leaved flax lily forming a soft fountain of bright green foliage with blue flowers and purple berries. Hardy and versatile for borders and mass plantings. -
Bronze Rambler Grevillea · Grevillea 'Bronze Rambler' A tough fast prostrate groundcover with deeply lobed foliage that flushes bronze-red, and toothbrush red flowers. Ideal for slope stabilising and weed suppression. -
Bulbine Lily · Bulbine bulbosa A tufted native lily with fleshy grass-like leaves and spikes of fragrant star-shaped yellow flowers in spring. An easy, drought-hardy perennial and bush-food bulb. -
Cassa Blue Flax Lily · Dianella caerulea 'Cassa Blue' A compact Australian native flax lily with upright blue-grey strappy foliage, sprays of small blue flowers and shiny purple berries. A versatile, hardy choice for borders, mass plantings and pots. -
Claret Tops Honey Myrtle · Melaleuca 'Claret Tops' A dense compact melaleuca grown for its claret-red new foliage flushes against fine green leaves. A colourful, hardy low hedge and feature for low-water gardens. -
Common Tussock Grass · Poa labillardierei A handsome large tussock grass with fine blue-green foliage forming soft fountain-like clumps topped by airy summer seed heads. A movement-rich native for mass planting and erosion control. -
Cumbungi · Typha orientalis A vigorous native marginal reed with strappy upright leaves and the familiar brown cigar-shaped seed heads. Spreads strongly, so best confined to large dams and natural wetlands. -
Endeavour Bottlebrush · Callistemon 'Endeavour' An upright medium bottlebrush bearing large vivid red brushes through spring and summer. A robust, bird-attracting screen and feature shrub. -
Euky Dwarf · Eucalyptus 'Euky Dwarf' A compact, fast-growing gum reaching only 5-6m with smooth pinkish-grey bark and a neat rounded canopy. Bred as a tidy small shade and street tree for confined gardens. -
Great Balls of Fire Bottlebrush · Callistemon 'Great Balls of Fire' A dense rounded bottlebrush grown chiefly for its brilliant red and pink new foliage flushes, with occasional red brushes. A colourful, hardy low hedge. -
Green Globe Honey Myrtle · Melaleuca 'Green Globe' A naturally rounded dwarf melaleuca with dense bright green foliage forming a tidy ball without pruning. Ideal for low formal hedges, balls and container feature plantings. -
Hannah Ray Bottlebrush · Callistemon 'Hannah Ray' A tall upright bottlebrush with weeping branches, bronze new growth and large red brushes in spring and autumn. An excellent narrow screening and street tree. -
Hop Goodenia · Goodenia ovata 'Gold Cover' A prostrate form of hop goodenia spreading into a glossy green mat dotted with bright yellow flowers for most of the year. A fast, hardy groundcover for sun or shade. -
Kangaroo Grass · Themeda triandra An iconic native grassland species with blue-green tufts that turn russet-bronze in summer and nodding rusty seed heads. Drought-hardy, it suits meadows and low-water plantings. -
Katie Belles Lomandra · Lomandra longifolia 'Katie Belles' A tall upright lomandra with broad green strappy leaves and tall scented yellow flower spikes. Architectural and hardy, excellent for screening and feature plantings. -
Kings Park Special Bottlebrush · Callistemon 'Kings Park Special' A vigorous large bottlebrush with weeping branches and bold crimson brushes in spring and autumn that are alive with honeyeaters. A reliable screen, windbreak or specimen. -
Knobby Club-rush · Ficinia nodosa A tough, tufting coastal sedge with wiry dark green stems tipped by little knobby seed heads. Salt-, wind- and waterlogging-tolerant, it excels in coastal and rain-garden plantings. -
Lilly Pilly · Syzygium australe · from $3.95 Australia's favourite native screen — glossy evergreen leaves flushed coppery-red when new, clipping into dense hedges and topiary, followed by edible magenta berries the birds love. -
Lime Tuff Mat-rush · Lomandra 'Lime Tuff' A compact, dense lomandra with fine lime-green foliage forming a tidy rounded tussock. Tough and low-care, it suits formal borders, mass plantings and containers. -
Little Jess Flax Lily · Dianella 'Little Jess' A compact, clumping flax lily with deep green strappy leaves, sprays of blue starry flowers and purple berries. A neat, tough small native for borders, pots and mass planting. -
Lucia Flax Lily · Dianella 'Lucia' A compact flax lily with blue-green foliage that develops purple tints, plus blue flowers and berries. Tough, frost-hardy and tidy for borders and mass plantings. -
Luscious Water Gum · Tristaniopsis laurina 'Luscious' A selected water gum with large glossy leaves, smooth orange-brown bark and clusters of fragrant yellow flowers in summer. A handsome, well-behaved shade and street tree. -
Matted Pratia · Lobelia pedunculata A creeping, mat-forming groundcover with tiny leaves studded with starry pale blue flowers, tolerant of light foot traffic. An excellent lawn substitute and paving filler for moist spots. -
Nafray Fountain Grass · Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Nafray' An Australian-bred selection of the native swamp foxtail forming neat green clumps topped with fluffy purple-bronze bottlebrush plumes. Tough, low-care and sterile-flowering, making it a safer choice than the weedy species. -
Native Bluebell · Wahlenbergia stricta A dainty native perennial sending up wiry stems topped with nodding sky-blue bells from spring to autumn. A charming, self-seeding filler for cottage and meadow plantings. -
Native Violet · Viola hederacea A dainty spreading groundcover with kidney-shaped leaves and white-and-purple flowers held on slender stems almost year-round. Loves cool, moist shade where it forms a lush living carpet. -
Nyalla Lomandra · Lomandra longifolia 'Nyalla' A robust lomandra with steel-blue strappy foliage and scented yellow flowers in spring. Extremely hardy and architectural, ideal for mass plantings and coastal sites. -
Old Man's Beard · Clematis aristata A graceful native clematis climbing through shrubs and trees, covered in starry white flowers in spring followed by fluffy silvery seed heads. A delicate cover for shaded fences and woodland gardens. -
Pale Rush · Juncus pallidus A hardy Australian native rush forming dense clumps of stiff, upright pale-green stems, thriving in wet ground and pond margins. Excellent for bog gardens, rain gardens and bank stabilisation. -
Poorinda Royal Mantle Grevillea · Grevillea 'Poorinda Royal Mantle' A vigorous flat groundcover that roots as it spreads, carrying deep red toothbrush flowers against dark green foliage. A classic erosion-control native. -
Purple Coral Pea · Hardenbergia violacea 'Happy Wanderer' A vigorous twining native pea bursting into sheets of purple flowers in late winter and spring. A reliable, fast cover for fences, trellises and banks. -
Red Ironbark · Eucalyptus sideroxylon 'Rosea' A handsome upright tree with deeply furrowed near-black ironbark and blue-grey foliage, carrying pink to red winter flowers rich in nectar. Tough, drought-hardy and excellent for birds. -
Rice Flower · Ozothamnus diosmifolius An upright shrub topped in spring with dense clusters of tiny white or pink button flowers held above fine aromatic foliage. A major commercial native cut flower and easy garden filler. -
Rosemary Grevillea · Grevillea rosmarinifolia A hardy prickly-foliaged shrub resembling rosemary, flushing red-and-cream spider flowers through autumn, winter and spring. Excellent dense habitat and screening for small birds. -
Shara Lomandra · Lomandra fluviatilis 'Shara' A soft weeping fine-leaved lomandra forming a low blue-green fountain. Compact and very hardy, ideal for borders, slopes and low-maintenance mass plantings. -
Slim Bottlebrush · Callistemon 'Slim' A very narrow upright bottlebrush bred for tight spaces, with red brushes in spring and summer. Ideal for slim hedges and screening along fences and driveways. -
Snow in Summer · Melaleuca linariifolia 'Claret Tops' · from $17.95 A compact form of the popular paperbark with striking burgundy new growth maturing to green, and fluffy white summer flowers. Hardy and adaptable for hedges, screens and feature planting. -
Soft Twig Rush · Baumea rubiginosa A native marginal sedge forming neat clumps of fine green stems, useful for stabilising pond edges and natural water filtration. A reliable choice for constructed wetlands and rain gardens. -
Swamp Foxtail · Pennisetum alopecuroides A clumping grass with arching green foliage and showy purplish foxtail plumes in summer and autumn. Self-seeds readily and is regarded as an environmental weed in parts of Australia. -
Tall Sedge · Carex appressa A vigorous weeping sedge forming a lush green fountain of fine arching foliage. Thriving in damp and boggy ground, it is a go-to for rain gardens, pond edges and erosion control. -
Tanika Mat Rush · Lomandra longifolia 'Tanika' A popular Australian native strappy-leaf plant forming fine-textured weeping clumps of bright green foliage with scented yellow flower spikes. Extremely tough, drought- and frost-hardy, and ideal for mass plantings. -
Tas Red Flax Lily · Dianella tasmanica 'Tas Red' A flax lily prized for the red-burgundy tones in its strappy foliage during cooler months, with blue flowers and purple berries. Hardy and colourful in mass plantings. -
Thyme Honey-myrtle · Melaleuca thymifolia A small, dainty paperbark with fine blue-green leaves and curious fringed mauve-purple claw flowers through the warmer months. Tolerates wet feet and suits damp or boggy spots. -
Upright Water Milfoil · Myriophyllum crispatum A native semi-emergent aquatic with feathery whorled foliage that rises above the water surface. A useful oxygenator and habitat plant for natural ponds and frog bogs. -
Wildfire Bottlebrush · Callistemon 'Wildfire' A medium bottlebrush with weeping habit and large fiery red brushes in spring and autumn. A robust, bird-attracting feature and informal screen for most climates. -
Willow-leaved Hakea · Hakea salicifolia A fast, dense large shrub with willow-like leaves and clusters of small creamy flowers in spring. One of the best native plants for a quick screen or hedge. -
Wonga Wonga Vine 'Snowbells' · Pandorea pandorana 'Snowbells' A vigorous evergreen climber with glossy ferny foliage and masses of fragrant creamy-white tubular bells in spring. A fast, hardy cover for fences, pergolas and screens. -
Yellow Gum · Eucalyptus leucoxylon 'Rosea' A hardy small to medium gum with smooth cream bark and showy pink to red flowers through the cooler months that draw flocks of honeyeaters. A reliable street and shade tree.