What Should I Plant in My Garden? An Australian Plant Finder by Problem

“What should I plant in my garden?”

Possibly the biggest gardening question in existence.

And also one of the most impossible to answer.

Because I could give you a list of twenty absolutely brilliant plants and nineteen of them could be completely wrong for your garden.

So let's do this differently.

Don't tell me what plant you want.

Tell me what problem you've got.

Hot western sun?

We've got plants for that.

Dark underneath a tree?

Different plants.

Boggy patch that stays wet after rain?

Definitely different plants.

Need to hide the neighbours without losing half the backyard?

Now we're talking about growth habit and width.

Need something underneath a window that won't spend the rest of its life being hacked back?

That's another job entirely.

So instead of giving you another giant list of the “best plants in Australia”, use this guide like a plant finder.

Find your problem.

Then start narrowing down the plants.

I have full sun

Excellent.

But before we choose anything, what sort of full sun?

Because “sunny” can mean a beautiful open garden receiving morning and midday sun.

Or it can mean the western side of a brick house where the plants are being cooked from the sky, the wall and possibly the centre of the earth.

If the position receives plenty of sun without extreme reflected heat, your options are enormous.

For tough sunny Australian gardens, plants such as Lomandra, Westringia, Dianella, Callistemon and many hardy groundcovers can be incredibly useful.

But choose the variety according to the job.

Need a fine strappy plant? Look at Lomandras and Dianellas.

Need a low shrub? A compact Westringia may suit.

Need flowers and native habitat value? Look at suitable Callistemons and other flowering natives.

Need to cover soil? Choose a genuine groundcover rather than another upright shrub.

Full sun tells us the conditions.

It still doesn't tell us the job.

I have really hot afternoon sun

Now we're narrowing it down.

Hot western positions can be brutal.

Walls, paving, driveways and fences can absorb heat during the day and radiate it back towards plants.

Look for plants suited to heat and exposure rather than simply choosing anything labelled “full sun”.

Tough Lomandras can be useful here.

Low-growing Myoporums can work beautifully in suitable conditions.

Westringias are another group worth exploring.

Gazania Double Cream™ gives you low spreading growth, silver-toned foliage and flowers for a completely different look.

Succulent foliage can also be useful in exposed positions because plants with water-storing leaves have their own strategy for dealing with dry conditions.

The important thing is establishment.

A drought-tolerant plant is not magically drought-proof the afternoon you remove it from its pot.

It still needs to grow the root system that will eventually make it tough.

I have shade

What kind?

Yes, we're doing this again.

😂

Shade underneath a building is different from shade underneath a tree.

Bright filtered light is different from deep shade.

Morning sun followed by afternoon shade is different again.

For shaded or partly shaded positions, look at plants such as Liriope, Mondo grass, native violet and other plants suited to lower-light conditions, depending on climate and soil.

Gardenias can also perform beautifully with suitable light and conditions, although flowering generally improves with adequate light.

The goal isn't to find something that merely survives shade.

Find something that actually looks good there.

I have dry shade under trees

Congratulations.

You've unlocked one of gardening's harder levels.

😂

Dry shade combines two problems:

Less light above ground.

And competition below it.

Established tree roots can take up enormous amounts of water and nutrients, leaving smaller plants underneath competing for whatever remains.

Look for plants specifically capable of handling those conditions rather than searching only for “shade plants”.

Depending on your exact climate and conditions, Liriope, Mondo, native violet and other tough shade-tolerant ground-layer plants may be worth considering.

And don't assume adding endless water is the solution.

Choose plants that are actually suited to living with the tree.

I have wet or boggy soil

Please stop trying to plant drought-loving shrubs in it.

😂

A naturally wet area can be a brilliant opportunity.

Rushes and sedges such as Baumea, Carex, Juncus, Schoenoplectus and Lepironia are designed for completely different conditions from your average garden shrub.

They can be fantastic around dams, swales, rain gardens, low areas and naturally wet parts of a property.

Plants such as Knobby Club Rush, Jointed Twig Rush, Soft Twig Rush, Tall Sedge and River Club Rush can all perform different jobs within wet-area planting.

The first question is whether the area is naturally wet or whether something has gone wrong.

Burst pipe?

Fix it.

Drainage failure beside the house?

Investigate it.

Naturally occurring wet patch away from structures?

Maybe you've just discovered another planting zone.

I have clay soil

Good.

We can work with clay.

Clay isn't a gardening disease.

It can hold water and nutrients extremely well.

The problem is choosing plants that require sharp drainage and putting them into heavy, poorly drained clay.

Before choosing plants, work out what your clay actually does.

Does it drain reasonably after rain?

Or does water sit there for days?

Is it compacted?

Does it crack when dry?

Can you physically dig it?

Plenty of tough Australian landscape plants can perform well in clay when drainage and climate suit them.

The answer isn't necessarily replacing your entire backyard with imported soil.

Choose plants for the soil you have wherever possible.

I have sandy soil

Now we've got almost the opposite challenge.

Sandy soils can drain rapidly.

That can be brilliant for plants that hate wet feet, but it also means water and nutrients may move through the soil quickly.

Mulching and appropriate organic matter can help, but plant selection still matters.

Look for plants suited to free-draining conditions and your climate.

And pay particular attention to establishment watering.

The surface can look dry because it is dry.

Very dry.

Very quickly.

I need privacy

Now we're not choosing a plant.

We're designing a screen.

First decide how high the screen actually needs to be.

Two metres?

Three?

Five?

Then look at how much width you've got.

This is where people make expensive mistakes.

They choose something because it grows quickly and tall, then discover it also wants to become several metres wide.

For narrower spaces, varieties specifically selected for narrower growth can make much more sense.

Plants such as Callistemon Slim™, Viburnum Thin Fence™ and Straight and Narrow™ exist precisely because sometimes you need height without donating the entire garden bed to the screen.

For larger spaces, your options expand considerably.

Choose the finished plant first.

Then worry about spacing.

I need a hedge

How formal?

That's the first question I'd ask.

If you want a perfectly clipped rectangular hedge, choose something that responds well to regular pruning and naturally has the density you need.

If you'd prefer a softer informal boundary, you have many more options.

Sweet Viburnum, Murraya, Syzygium, Photinia and various compact shrubs can all have roles depending on climate, size and the look you're after.

For lower hedges, smaller varieties such as Min-a-Min™ Murraya, compact Westringias and other naturally smaller shrubs can save you an enormous amount of pruning.

Don't choose a four-metre plant to maintain at 60 centimetres if there's a plant that naturally wants to be around the size you need.

I need something under a window

This is a mature-height problem.

Not a flower-colour problem.

Measure from the soil to the bottom of the window.

That's your maximum comfortable plant height before regular pruning becomes part of the arrangement.

Look for naturally compact shrubs, low-growing foliage plants and groundcovers that suit your light and soil conditions.

Compact Westringias, dwarf Nandinas, Min-a-Min™ and various Dianellas can be useful depending on the site.

The goal is not to spend the next ten years preventing the plant from doing what it naturally wants to do.

I need something beside a driveway

Driveways can be surprisingly hostile.

Heat.

Reflected sun.

Dry conditions.

Cars.

People stepping out where you wish they wouldn't.

And very little tolerance for a plant that decides to become twice as wide as advertised.

Choose plants that handle exposure and whose mature width won't interfere with vehicles or sightlines.

Low Lomandras, Dianellas, compact shrubs and tough groundcovers can be extremely useful.

And check the eventual size.

The plant currently sitting politely in a 140mm pot has plans.

I need something for a narrow garden bed

Width.

Please look at the width.

😂

Narrow beds are where naturally narrow plants earn their keep.

If you need screening, look at plants bred or selected for upright, narrow growth.

If you simply need planting, combine upright forms with low groundcovers rather than filling the whole bed with broad shrubs and spending eternity chopping them off the path.

Vertical space is valuable in small gardens.

Use it.

I need something for a retaining wall

Ask whether you're planting above it, below it or wanting something to spill over it.

Those are three different jobs.

For the top edge, spreading groundcovers can soften the hard line beautifully.

Plants such as Hardenbergia Meema™, Aussie Rambler™, Low Horizon™ Westringia, Ground Hug™ Myoporum and suitable Junipers can create very different effects depending on the conditions.

If the wall is hot and exposed, choose accordingly.

If it sits in shade, completely different list.

Again, the wall isn't the growing condition.

The position around it is.

I need plants for a bank or slope

The first thing I'd want to know is whether the slope is dry, wet, sunny or shaded.

Then I'd look for plants that spread and create good soil coverage rather than filling it with individual upright shrubs.

Groundcovers and mass-planted strappy plants can be incredibly useful.

Meema™ Hardenbergia, Aussie Rambler™, Myoporum, low-growing Westringias and suitable Lomandras can all play different roles.

Think in square metres.

A slope generally looks much better when plants repeat across it rather than when every square metre contains something different.

I want to cover bare soil

Groundcovers.

Actual groundcovers.

Not seventeen shrubs planted closer together and told to work it out.

😂

Look for plants whose natural habit is low and spreading.

Aussie Rambler™, Meema™, Low Horizon™, Ground Hug™, Mingo™, native violet, Dichondra and various spreading Junipers can provide very different ground layers depending on the site.

The right groundcover can soften a garden enormously and reduce the amount of exposed mulch you stare at.

I want fewer weeds

There is no plant that creates a magical weed-proof force field.

Sorry.

But bare soil is an invitation.

Dense planting can shade the soil and occupy space that weeds would otherwise exploit.

Groundcovers are particularly useful.

So are repeated grasses, strappy plants and shrubs that eventually create a connected canopy over the soil.

The goal isn't to cram plants together irresponsibly.

It's to design towards living coverage rather than permanent empty mulch.

I need something between pavers

Now height becomes incredibly important.

You want plants that can remain low enough not to turn the path into an obstacle course.

Depending on foot traffic, light and moisture, options might include Dichondra, native violet, Mini Mondo and other low-growing plants suited to the particular conditions.

Remember that “between pavers” can mean anything from a shaded stepping-stone path to a blazing-hot courtyard.

Choose accordingly.

I want something around a pool

Think beyond whether the plant looks tropical.

Pools create practical issues.

You may want plants that don't constantly drop enormous amounts of debris into the water.

You may need to consider chlorinated or salty splash.

Paving can create reflected heat.

And spiky plants beside places where people walk barefoot deserve careful thought.

Fine-foliaged grasses and strappy plants, selected compact shrubs and suitable groundcovers can create a beautiful pool garden without making pool maintenance a second career.

I need a low-maintenance garden

Then stop choosing high-maintenance plants.

😂

This sounds obvious, but it's the whole game.

Choose plants whose natural size matches the space.

Use repeating groups instead of dozens of unrelated varieties.

Use groundcovers to occupy soil.

Choose plants suited to your rainfall and climate.

Don't put moisture-loving plants into dry exposed positions.

Don't plant enormous hedges if you hate pruning.

Don't choose plants solely for flowers.

A low-maintenance garden isn't a garden where plants don't grow.

It's a garden where the plants are allowed to behave fairly naturally without causing constant problems.

I want an Australian native garden

Fantastic.

Now forget the word “native” for a minute and tell me about the garden.

Sun?

Shade?

Soil?

Rainfall?

Frost?

Wet?

Dry?

Coastal?

How much space?

What height?

Australian native plants are extraordinarily diverse.

Use that diversity.

You might combine Westringia for structure, Lomandra or Dianella for strappy foliage, Hardenbergia or Myoporum at ground level and Callistemon for flowering height, depending on the site.

The aim isn't simply to collect Australian plants.

It's to build a functioning garden from them.

I want flowers for most of the year

Don't look for one miraculous plant that flowers 365 days a year.

Build a sequence.

Choose plants with different flowering periods.

Then make sure the garden still looks good between them.

Plants such as Salvias, Gazanias, Dianthus, Gardenias, Callistemons, Kangaroo Paws and flowering groundcovers can all contribute at different times depending on climate and variety.

But remember:

Foliage is what holds the garden together between flowers.

Design that first.

I want a garden that looks established quickly

You have two options.

Buy enormous plants.

Or design cleverly.

Larger plants certainly create instant scale, but they're expensive.

The other approach is layering and coverage.

Use groundcovers.

Repeat plants.

Fill the lower layer.

Use grasses and strappy foliage between shrubs.

Choose some faster-growing structural plants where appropriate.

A garden looks established when plants begin visually connecting.

Not simply when everything is tall.

I have absolutely no idea what I want

Excellent.

This is actually easier than thinking you desperately need a particular plant that is completely wrong for your garden.

😂

Go outside.

Pick one area.

Then write down:

Sun: full / part / shade
Soil: dry / average / wet
Space: height × width
Job: what does the plant need to do?
Style: native / tropical / formal / soft / cottage / architectural / don't care, just make it survive
Maintenance: low / happy to prune and fuss

Now you're plant shopping.

And suddenly the question isn't:

“What plants do I like?”

It's:

“Which plants fit this brief?”

That is a MUCH easier question to answer.

The Plant Hub rule

If you're completely overwhelmed by choosing plants, remember this:

Conditions first. Job second. Plant third.

Not:

Plant first.

Fall in love.

Take it home.

Walk around the backyard holding it.

Put it somewhere vaguely empty.

Spend the next eighteen months trying to convince it that this was a good decision.

😂

Your garden already tells you what it needs.

Watch the sun.

Watch the water.

Look at the soil.

Measure the space.

Decide what needs fixing.

Then choose plants that actually want the job.

Because the best plant in Australia isn't the rarest one.

It isn't the most expensive one.

And it definitely isn't whichever one currently has the prettiest photo on Instagram.

It's the one that looks at the conditions in your garden and thinks:

Yep. I can live here.