PlantSale Planting plan

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.

Plant list (50 plants)

#	Plant	Spacing	Mature size	Light	Water
1	Weeping Bottlebrush Callistemon viminalis (Sol. ex Gaertn.) G.Don	—	5 m H × 3 m W	Full Sun	Drought-Tolerant
2	Blue Flax Lily 'Little Jess' Dianella caerulea 'Little Jess'	—	0.4 m H × 0.4 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade, Full Shade	Low Water
3	Breeze Flax Lily Dianella caerulea 'Breeze'	—	0.6 m H × 0.6 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
4	Bronze Rambler Grevillea Grevillea 'Bronze Rambler'	—	0.4 m H × 4 m W	Full Sun	Drought-Tolerant
5	Bulbine Lily Bulbine bulbosa	—	0.4 m H × 0.3 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
6	Cassa Blue Flax Lily Dianella caerulea 'Cassa Blue'	—	0.5 m H × 0.5 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Drought-Tolerant
7	Claret Tops Honey Myrtle Melaleuca 'Claret Tops'	—	1 m H × 1 m W	Full Sun	Low Water
8	Common Tussock Grass Poa labillardierei	—	1 m H × 1 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
9	Cumbungi Typha orientalis	—	2.5 m H × 1 m W	Full Sun	Wet / Bog
10	Endeavour Bottlebrush Callistemon 'Endeavour'	—	2.5 m H × 2 m W	Full Sun	Moderate Water
11	Euky Dwarf Eucalyptus 'Euky Dwarf'	—	6 m H × 4 m W	Full Sun	Drought-Tolerant
12	Great Balls of Fire Bottlebrush Callistemon 'Great Balls of Fire'	—	1.5 m H × 1.5 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Moderate Water
13	Green Globe Honey Myrtle Melaleuca 'Green Globe'	—	0.8 m H × 0.8 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
14	Hannah Ray Bottlebrush Callistemon 'Hannah Ray'	—	5 m H × 3 m W	Full Sun	Moderate Water
15	Hop Goodenia Goodenia ovata 'Gold Cover'	—	0.3 m H × 1.5 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade, Full Shade	Low Water
16	Kangaroo Grass Themeda triandra	—	0.8 m H × 0.5 m W	Full Sun	Drought-Tolerant
17	Katie Belles Lomandra Lomandra longifolia 'Katie Belles'	—	1.2 m H × 1 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Drought-Tolerant
18	Kings Park Special Bottlebrush Callistemon 'Kings Park Special'	—	4 m H × 3 m W	Full Sun	Moderate Water
19	Knobby Club-rush Ficinia nodosa	—	0.7 m H × 0.6 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Moderate Water
20	Lilly Pilly Syzygium australe	—	4 m H × 2.5 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Moderate Water
21	Lime Tuff Mat-rush Lomandra 'Lime Tuff'	—	0.4 m H × 0.5 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Drought-Tolerant
22	Little Jess Flax Lily Dianella 'Little Jess'	—	0.4 m H × 0.4 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
23	Lucia Flax Lily Dianella 'Lucia'	—	0.4 m H × 0.4 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
24	Luscious Water Gum Tristaniopsis laurina 'Luscious'	—	7 m H × 4 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Moderate Water
25	Matted Pratia Lobelia pedunculata	—	0.05 m H × 1 m W	Part Shade, Full Sun, Full Shade	Moist / Regular
26	Nafray Fountain Grass Pennisetum alopecuroides 'Nafray'	—	0.7 m H × 0.6 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Moderate Water
27	Native Bluebell Wahlenbergia stricta	—	0.5 m H × 0.3 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
28	Native Violet Viola hederacea	—	0.1 m H × 1 m W	Part Shade, Full Shade	Moist / Regular
29	Nyalla Lomandra Lomandra longifolia 'Nyalla'	—	0.9 m H × 0.9 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Drought-Tolerant
30	Old Man's Beard Clematis aristata	—	5 m H × 3 m W	Part Shade, Full Shade, Full Sun	Moderate Water
31	Pale Rush Juncus pallidus	—	1.5 m H × 0.6 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Wet / Bog
32	Poorinda Royal Mantle Grevillea Grevillea 'Poorinda Royal Mantle'	—	0.5 m H × 5 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
33	Purple Coral Pea Hardenbergia violacea 'Happy Wanderer'	—	3 m H × 2 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
34	Red Ironbark Eucalyptus sideroxylon 'Rosea'	—	18 m H × 10 m W	Full Sun	Drought-Tolerant
35	Rice Flower Ozothamnus diosmifolius	—	2 m H × 1.5 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
36	Rosemary Grevillea Grevillea rosmarinifolia	—	2 m H × 2 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
37	Shara Lomandra Lomandra fluviatilis 'Shara'	—	0.5 m H × 0.6 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Drought-Tolerant
38	Slim Bottlebrush Callistemon 'Slim'	—	3 m H × 1 m W	Full Sun	Moderate Water
39	Snow in Summer Melaleuca linariifolia 'Claret Tops'	—	2 m H × 1.5 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Moderate Water
40	Soft Twig Rush Baumea rubiginosa	—	1 m H × 0.5 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Wet / Bog
41	Swamp Foxtail Pennisetum alopecuroides	—	0.9 m H × 0.8 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Moderate Water
42	Tall Sedge Carex appressa	—	0.8 m H × 0.8 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Wet / Bog
43	Tanika Mat Rush Lomandra longifolia 'Tanika'	—	0.6 m H × 0.6 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Drought-Tolerant
44	Tas Red Flax Lily Dianella tasmanica 'Tas Red'	—	0.6 m H × 0.5 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
45	Thyme Honey-myrtle Melaleuca thymifolia	—	1 m H × 1 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Moist / Regular
46	Upright Water Milfoil Myriophyllum crispatum	—	0.3 m H × 0.5 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Wet / Bog
47	Wildfire Bottlebrush Callistemon 'Wildfire'	—	3 m H × 2.5 m W	Full Sun	Moderate Water
48	Willow-leaved Hakea Hakea salicifolia	—	5 m H × 3 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
49	Wonga Wonga Vine 'Snowbells' Pandorea pandorana 'Snowbells'	—	5 m H × 3 m W	Full Sun, Part Shade	Low Water
50	Yellow Gum Eucalyptus leucoxylon 'Rosea'	—	10 m H × 6 m W	Full Sun	Drought-Tolerant

How to use this plan

Mark out your bed and set plants out (still in pots) using the spacing column.
Place taller and wider plants to the back or centre, lower plants to the front or edges.
Group by light and water needs so each plant gets the right conditions.
Plant, mulch, water in well — then tick each plant off as you go.

Bed location

Date planted