Growing Grevilleas: Tips at a Glance
Grevillea trees and shrubs are evergreen, deer-resistant, and fuss-free choices for privacy screen, specimen plants, and ground covers (depending on the species) and will be happy in warm temperate gardens that remind them of their native Australian climate.
- Type Evergreen shrubs, trees
- Lifespan Perennial
- USDA Zones 8-11
- Soil Well drained
- Water Drought-tolerant
- Companions Other proteas
- Design Tip Hummingbird lure
- Colors Red, pink, white flowers
- Peak Season Late spring
Grevilleas: A Field Guide
Grevillea shrubs and trees have feathery, Seussian silhouettes that add texture and movement to a landscape. With more than 360 species that range from low-growers to trees, these evergreen flowering plants are versatile additions to gardens in temperate climates.
Species with dense growth habits, such as lavender grevillea (Grevillea lavandulacea), make useful privacy screens. Woolly grevillea (Grevillea lanigera ‘Mt Tamboritha’) is a handsome gray ground cover. With a mature height of up to 15 feet, Grevillea ‘Honey Gem’ can be used as a small specimen tree.
“Native to open lands in Australia mainly, a land that is massive and environmentally diverse, grevilleas have evolved to adapt to a wide range of conditions, from desert to high mountain zones,” writes our contributor Kier Holmes. “And most grevilleas are woody shrubs with fine needles or intricately dissected sturdy leaves (not soft and tender little perennials), likely an adaptation to drought and unkind soil.” Read more in Gardening 101: Grevilleas.
Amenable to pruning, scrubby grevillea shrubs can be coaxed into bushier shapes. (Tired-looking ground cover varieties are best pulled out and replaced.)
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